Project Run & Play January: Bubble Romper

(Summary in Swedish below).

The January challenge for Project Run & Play is the Bubble Dress by Alida Makes. I'm sewing for a baby and dresses seem to be such impractical garments for tiny babies, so I decided to make the dress into a romper instead.

What I did was very simple: I put snaps in the middle of the bottom opening in order to create a crotch and openings for the legs. Obviously I had to resize the romper as well, and I used measurements from some baby clothes that I already own. I cut the outer fabric 33x33 cm and the inner fabric 33x27 cm. The length of the straps is 25 cm. I hope it will fit a 1-2 month old baby, although I didn't have anyone to try it on so I'm not sure (my baby isn't due until June). Other than that, I followed Alida's tutorial.

The fabric I used is a thin, soft cotton fabric that used to be a bedsheet (thrifted). I bought it several years ago to make a dress for myself, and I did, but it didn't fit well so I never used it. I held on to the leftover fabric because I thought it might be suitable for baby summer clothes one day, but I didn't have a specific pattern in mind. When I saw this tutorial, I immediately thought of this fabric and I think it was a good match!

I liked this tutorial; it was easy to follow and the romper was quick to sew. It also made me try shirring for the first time, and it was a lot easier than I thought! I bought elastic thread a couple of years ago but I never got around to using it, but now I know I can do it!

By the way, I had the funniest conversation with my husband when I showed him the (almost) finished romper:
Me: (showing him the romper, the straps hanging on my hand)
Husband: Woooow, it looks great!
M: Thanks! It's not completely finished; I need to put snaps here but I don't have any yet.
H: OK. And then you're going to use it?
M: Me? No, it's for the baby.
H: It's for the baby?
M: What did you think it was?
H: A purse.
Ha, ha. I should probably mention that when I explained what it is he thought it was soooo cute, so I don't mind that he didn't get it at first :)

Sammanfattning på svenska: Januari månads utmaning i Project Run & Play är Alida Makes' beskrivning på en ballongklänning. Jag tycker att det verkar väldigt opraktiskt med klänning på små bebisar så jag satte knappar i öppningen längst ner för att göra så att plagget går ihop mellan benen. (Finns det ett svenskt ord för den här typen av plagg? Det är ju inte direkt en body även om det påminner om det.) Jag använde ett tunt, mjukt bomullstyg som jag sparat just för att sy svala somriga bebiskläder av, så det passade bra! Jag gillade den här sömnadsbeskrivningen; den var lätt att följa och plagget var enkelt att sy! Det var också roligt att få tillfälle att sy smock för första gången.