Pattern Review: Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones - Kimono Style PJs and Cutie Booties

Hi!

  On Tuesday, I received a baby shower invitation to a party which was happening just 4 days later! That's not a lot of time to really do much of anything BUT that's right up my alley. Nearly all my projects are on the rush. Time to use what I had on hand... Hence, Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones book.

  I've not tried these patterns before but have read the book several times. The sizes are much too small for lil AC. Every time I look at this book, I'm always drawn to the same 2 patterns, the Kimono Style PJs and the Cutie Booties. Using fabric I had in my stash, I selected 2 fabrics to use for the kimono and booties.

One of the things I like about this book is that all the projects have difficulty levels. The most difficult are rated a 5 while the easiest are rated a 1. Both the kimono and booties were rated a 3. Personally, I found the pattern rating to be quite accurate. They were not difficult nor super easy. I stumbled slightly in 1 place for each of the patterns. For the kimono top, I stumbled at bit with the bias ties that go around the neckline. At 1st, I did not realize that there are ties in the inside of the kimono as well as one on the outside. Clearly it's been a while since I looked at a kimono or I would of remembered about the ties. If you forget too, this portion of the instructions will make no sense and there is not a photo of the inside of the top to remind you.  Sorry, I should of taken one to post here. Here's a photo of the inside ties from a 2nd boy version I did.) Also, when attaching the sleeves to the top front panels, be sure to mark the "Attach Sleeve" side to your fabric. I do have a serger but decided to use french seams for both the top and pants. It's a little extra work but really like the look because it looks so polished and a bit couture.

I embellished the kimono top with 3 crotchet flowers. I attached them with my machine by sewing a circle in the white portion of the flower to ensure they were secure.

 The construction of the kimono bottoms was very easy and straight forward. I'd probably give the little pants a difficulty rating of a 2 and not a 3. I attached a matching flower in the front of the pants.

Next came the Cutie Bootie... I've never sewn shoes before and I was a little apprehensive of the curves. I think they turned out fine for my 1st attempt.

I marked the placement of the Velcro on both the lining and exterior fabric. This helped both with Velcro placement and the placement of the flower. I added the flower before I sewed the lining and exterior fabrics together.

 Sewing the lining and the exterior fabric together is where I stumbled. I misunderstood the directions and sewed too much around the upper panel piece.

I deviated from the instructions in regards to the fusible fleece and fusible interfacing. I kept thinking this was going to get really bulky and sewing that curve around the toes was going to be tricky. I decided to leave out the fusible interfacing. I didn't have any fusible fleece on hand and it was 10pm on Friday when I was sewing the booties. As always, I used what I had which turned out to be Warm and Natural and some fusible hem tape. Here's a brand that is sold at JoAnn's. Basically, it's double sided fusible web tape. I used strips to attach the Warm and Natural to the fabric. It seemed to work just fine for me.

Here's what the description says: "The great no-sew iron-on adhesive makes hemming easy without a needle or thread! It creates clean, secure hems in seconds with no sewing¿ and is completely machine washable! Available in regular and super weight. Use with cotton poly blends, cotton, rayon, acrylic, linings and much more. Machine washable and dryable. Paper backed.". My hem tape was not paper backed nor do I know if it is regular or super weight. I've had this hem tape for quite some time now.

Credo,
Lisa