Sew What’s Up Presents
The Sew What’s New Archive
This archived content is from Mary Wilkins’ sewing and
quilting message board “Sew What’s New,” which was
retired in August 2007. It is being provided by
“Sew What’s Up,”
which serves as the new home for many members of “Sew What’s New.”
From: krilliekat
Date: 02-20-2004, 08:36 AM (1 of 3)
|
I can never get the fit right! I have been sewing for years, I can do the impossible if it were asked of me (and have)...but for baby and toddler clothes, I am stumped! I have 2 boys: 4 months and 22 months. I have purchased SO much cute fabric intending on making them matching outfits and other cute stuff. I just finished a diaper shirt for the baby. you know, the kind that has the overlapping neckline at the shoulders...anyways, it looks awful! I guess because he is so big for his age. He is 19 pounds and I used the pattern measurements according to his weight and height. Ugh! The sleeves are too tight and the front is so wide above AND under the arms that it bunches up. That is after I took off an inch or so of width under the arms to the hemline. The only thing I like about the finished result is the extra length I added. That, at least looks like I want. So the sleeves I can fix next time, that part is easy. How about the bunchiness in the front? Do I fold the front and back pattern pieces lenghtwise and shorten the width from armpit to armpit that way? This is a stretch knit pattern and has no facings. I really wanted to make him some long t-shirts to wear under his pjs at night, but the bunchiness is too uncomfortable looking. I have to opposite problem for my toddler. I need to add extra width from armpit to armpit for him. My onle consolation here is that 50% of RTW doesn't fit them either. I have tons of unused baby clothes! Laurie
Mommy to Seth and Matthew |
User: krilliekat
Member since: 08-28-2003 Total posts: 7 |
From: MaryW
Date: 02-20-2004, 09:22 AM (2 of 3)
Hi Laurie, yes try decreasing the width of the front. Just be careful and don't take too much or it will be too snug in a month.  I always found everything was a bit on the large size for my kids too. They were slender but grew fast, it's very hard to have a perfect fit for babies. They grow so much. MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542 
|
From: aly
Date: 03-02-2004, 04:18 PM (3 of 3)
|
First of all, pat yourself on the back for even getting to your sewing with two children under 2! I understand your frustration, it was my very long, skinny baby that fit none of the cute, wide clothes that helped get me sewing again. I didn't sew diaper shirts because they are so labour intensive relative to the short time they are worn. The trick for baby clothes I find is that you simply can't trust the patterns. It sounds to me like you know what you are doing, so just use patterns for a guideline, and use a combination of sizes. I used them for things like shoulder curves etc. since I don't know how to draft my own patterns. For my son's fitting problems at 12 months, I used size 2or more length, size 12mo. or less width, size 18mo. arms. (makes him sound like a  ) Of course, after carefully saving my new patterns, dd came along with a completely different shape.Have you tried KwikSew patterns? Some of the older ones tend to have short bodies, but I found they tended to fit kids better. One thing I read is that pattern companies fit patterns to size 6, then simply size down the pattern to a size 2 by reducing the pattern pieces by set amounts. Obviously, a 2-year-old is shaped differently than a 6yo, so if this is true, it may explain the poor fit in some kids' patterns. Finally, have you checked out patternreview.com? People review patterns there, and you can search through to find toddler patterns that worked ( or didn't() for others. Hope my long message isn't making you  !
|
User: aly
Member since: 08-16-2002 Total posts: 35 
|
Visit Sew What’s Up for the latest sewing and quilting tips and discussions.
This page was originally located on Sew What’s New (www.sew-whats-new.com) at http://www.sew-whats-new.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-12129.html
Sew What’s Up is hosted by ZenSoft