Week 4 - Final Round!!!

O....M....G....!!!!

I really never imagined that I would make it to the final round in my first sewing competition.  It is really humbling to even be picked to participate!  I know my blog is pretty small compared to some of you out there - I'm just so honored to have been able to make it this far!

Thank you so much for your comments - I love it when you link back to your blog so I can see what you've created and "meet" other crafty mamas!

This week is "Contestant Choice" and it's a no brainer for me - Kids Clothes!!!!

It also happens to be the week of Kids Clothes Week Challenge and I would love to complete a wardrobe like a lot of ladies are doing but I have no desire to burn the midnight oil in order to complete a to-do list! haha!  So, I'm going to officially consider my final Sew Off look to also be my KCWC look!!!

You should go check out the flickr pool and blog for great kids clothes inspiration and ideas!!!

Ok, on to my entry! :)

This is another one of those outfits that when inspiration hit, there was no stopping me!!!  I bought a pair of sandals at Target that had pink strawberries on them and I thought a romper to match would be so cute!

And then the more I thought about it, I wanted to try making a pair of cute handmade sandals and preferred red strawberries!  I sketched two looks for the romper - either a traditional bib romper with an applique strawberry or make the bib of the romper in the SHAPE of a strawberry!!!  Hubby agreed that the 2nd option was more unique so that's how we came up with the final product!!!

The romper is 2 pieces - I made the top by drawing my own strawberry shape - it's fully lined and topstitched with double sided topstitched leaves that were hand sewn to the strawberry.

 

I made the leaves so the front of the leaf is the right side of the fabric and the back is the wrong side - it provides a nice contrast if you're looking closely!

I attached the straps to the top of the strawberry so they tie at the neck and I painstakingly hand tied french knot "seeds" all over the front!!!  (I know how long it took by how many TV shows I "watched" while working!  Want to guess?)

I put cloud cover on the back of the strawberry so the little knot ends don't bother Eva Mae's little tummy!

On to the bottom!  I just did a basic bloomer/short self drafted pattern but spiffed it up with some piping and contrast at the bottom leg!

I ran a casing of elastic at the leg to give it a little ruffle/bubble look and attached the strawberry by hand to the middle of the shorts front.

I drafted my own little baby sandal and I know there are better patterns/tutorials out there so I won't even try to make a tutorial! haha!  It's basically a shoe print shape cut out with elastic and ribbon sandwiched in and sewn with right sides together and then turned out and topstitched.  The cuteness factor comes from the felt embroidery design from Just Peachy Applique!  I had to put two on a clip for her hair as well!

I commented to some friends that I know this verges on the side of "costumey" rather than "fashion" but I am all about amping up the cuteness factor while my baby girl is little!!! ;-)

If you are a local friend/family visiting my blog let's plan a trip to the strawberry patch together and you can get some squishy piggy fat loves from Eva Mae in her Strawberry Sweetness outfit!

Thank you again for voting me into the final round of the Sew Off!!!  We need to give a standing ovation to Amy Hindemann for organizing/planning the contest in the middle of trying to get ready to move out of state!  You are truly a superwoman, Amy! :)

 

Now go vote and give Amy some comment love on the Naptime Crafter site!