And Some Wee Purple....

I've been waiting all day for the sun to come out, so that I could take some nice pictures, but it wasn't meant to be.

This little sleeper was started way back when I made the bird shirt for Elijah. It was the last thing that I was finishing up after a long night of sewing. Anyone who knew me in real life, at the time of my last pregnancy, knows my on-going struggle with fasteners, especially when it comes to baby clothes (I've a feeling I brought up a few hundred times or so). Zippers are quick and easy, but I can't stand the thought of that awful scratchy-plastic-y fabric possibly coming in contact with delicate soft skin. Buttons are good for some things, but they are expensive and fiddly for dressing a fussing babe. My theory last time was that snaps were the way to go. I got a little snap setter (which takes some, but certainly not all, of the frustration out of snap application) and went to work. My theory didn't pan out. The snaps regularly broke apart or lead to holes in the fabric. I don't get it really. I mean snaps on clothes that you buy at the store don't just fall off. I guess that's one of the benefits of having professional machines at your disposal. So for this little sleeper I decided to try pre-made snap tape. It was of cotton webbing (so not yucky and scratchy) and I assumed it would have the same sort of staying power as regular snaps on clothes. Apparently not so much.... When I had finished sewing everything but the collar I snapped a few snaps to make sure that everything lined up. When I opened it back up again to sew the collar, the first snap popped right off. GGGrrrrrrr!!!! I was so disgusted that I tossed the whole thing aside and refused to look at it for a solid 3 months. But it is a size small after-all and if the whole thing is not to go to waste, I figured I better give it another go. This time I went with ribbon ties. I have no clue as to whether or not it's going to work out, but it's done and that is that. I added in another panel on the inside, in-case the spaces between the ribbons pull a bit, so that we won't have any bare little tummies.


The booties are in a bigger size and I plan on using them in the spring. I'm thinking that there will probably be another little outfit to go with them by then.

I'm assuming that you will all be willing to have mercy for a tired, very pregnant, woman by saving me the trouble of standing on a chair to get down my box of patterns and fish these ones out. The hat and booties are from one pattern and the sleeper is from another. They are both by Kwiksew and can be easily found on their site.

This is about it for the purple fleece, though I do have more of the purple rib knit (the cuffs for the booties, the hat and the collar on the sleeper were all made of this), so that will probably show up again at some point.

The snow is coming down quite steadily now. The two big boys are sledding past my window. The Papa is home early (due to the snow. And for the rest of the year, thanks to vacation time and the holidays!) and up in the attic, putting the finishing touches on a Christmas present. Thanks to a concerted effort by everyone, I've got a head start on dinner. There is currently a big tray of root vegetables, roasting away, along with 5 butternut squashes (some for dinner, some for baking and some for freezing). A friend today was telling me about a dish she makes with rice, squash, chicken, greens, peas....sounded really good and I think that's the way our dinner is headed. Papa Bear promised to take the Goosey-Boy for a romp in the snow, once he's done in the attic, and I'm planning on settling in for some quiet time at my sewing machine.