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4.14.2016

Newborn Gowns

Spring is such a beautiful time of year to be born, with new life in full bloom all around us.  We just celebrated three birthdays in our family: Tia's, Dan's and Indigo's, which all fall within four days of one another.  I vividly remember being 9 months pregnant with Indigo  (9 years ago already!) and unpacking a container of newborn clothes a couple of weeks before her arrival.  As I did, I looked out the window at our Texas redbud tree which was bursting with purple blossoms.  We were so eager for her arrival!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of sewing for a couple of babies, coincidentally due on the very same day.  I knew I wanted to make newborn gowns, using the pattern I created after Hazel was born.  I loved dressing my babies in gowns.   Since there are no zippers or snaps, it made diaper changes so much easier, especially those middle of the night ones where you're fumbling around, half-asleep in the dark.

I made the first gown for my sewing friend, Tara and her little guy expected to arrive any day now.



I used this mustard hummingbird knit that I received from Elvelyckan Design.  I love this fabric so much.  It's so soft and the quality is amazing.  I'm glad I have enough fabric left over from this project to make something for Hazel (coming soon).  I love this color and the hummingbird print.

I made the second gown for my cousin and his wife.  They decided to wait to find out whether they were having a boy or a girl, so I picked this lamb fabric that I had in my stash.  I felt like it worked well either way.  It's called Lamb in Fog and it's by Birch Organic.  My previous Birch knits shrank a lot, so I washed and dried this several times before using it.



Their baby was born last Thursday and... it's a girl!

I wanted to include a few of my favorite handmade body care products as well, so Indigo and I made some lip balms for the mamas (using this recipe), some diaper/all-purpose salves using my recipe here, and some after-bath oil for the babies.  I like to make extra salve and lip balms to have on hand to give to friends, as a small gesture to let them know that I'm thinking of them and appreciate them.



I thought this would be a great time to feature a few of the newborn gowns that others have made using my pattern.  I love seeing photos of gowns made from my pattern.  It brings me so much joy!

The first two are by Olu from Needle and Ted.





She has two separate posts featuring her gowns wherein she discusses an alleged urban legend (truth?) about the benefit of envelope necklines in what she calls 'poonami' situations.  You can read those posts here and here.  Olu is so funny and always makes me smile!  And aren't her gowns great?

Then, I absolutely adored this newborn gown made by Erin from Erin Always for her sweet little one, Michael.


Gah!  That appliqued face!    Cuteness overload, right?  You can see the full post here.  Watch out, though!  When you see her adorable baby and her impeccable baby sewing, you might leave her blog wanting to have another baby!  Don't say I didn't warn you!  ;)

Finally, Maxie from Maxie Makes modified my gown pattern to include a front pleat and shell tuck edges.



How awesome is that?  She made this one for her granddaughter.  The edging detail is so lovely.  And she wrote a tutorial on how to add a pleat and/or shell tuck edge.  You can find that here.  Thank you, Maxie!

Here are a couple other gowns she made with the center pleat without the edging detail.



I love them so much!  Maxie is so good with the details!

Thank you Olu, Erin and Maxie for allowing me to share your gowns today!  You are all sewing rock stars!

11 comments:

  1. cute.... now I'm having new born baby nostalgia , it all seems like such a long time ago! And they are just so sweet in gowns like this x

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  2. Your gowns are GORGEOUS Rachel. Thank you for sharing such a perfect pattern for a baby gift. And thank you for featuring my baby gowns on your blog :-)

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  3. I love the gowns - both the lambs and the hummingbirds are such great choices! I made a couple similar gowns for Niko last fall (from the Growing Up Sew Liberated book) and he is still wearing them to bed most nights (nearly 11 months old). Even though he is sleeping through the night now, he wakes around 5:30 every morning. So I tend to let him stay in the gown for awhile - read: until I've had my coffee and am more awake - precisely because of the ease of diaper changes. They are the best.

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  4. Good to know about this tutorial. I love how you have inspired others!! Beautiful collection.

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  5. Your gown pattern is by far the best one I found! It's so easy to make and your tutorial is wonderful! It's now my go-to gown pattern!

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    1. Thank you so much, Maxie! Your versions are amazing!

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  6. These gowns are so cute, I wonder why I haven't made one yet... Soon!

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  7. Those gowns are so so sweet. Now wouldn't little knitted hats just be the icing on the cake....

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  8. Aw man, these are adorable. You're such a good gifter. :)

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