This seaside romper is availible to buy from my NuMonday shop or you can see below for details of how to make your own.
Tools and Materials:
I earn a small commission when products are purchased through the links I post here (at no additional cost to you).
I've made this romper and dress many times with the underlap and buttons as described in the instructions. To be frank, I find then utterly pointless. The underlap is fiddly to sew and it's difficult to achieve a neat finish. That would be fine if they were necessary for getting the romper on and off but even with bulky cloth nappies I have never, not once actually undone the buttons.
With some small changes to the pattern I am able to skip the closure and achieve a more professional looking finish quicker and more easily.
Pants
Before starting to sew the parts I mark the back piece by pinning a label to each one.
Then it's onto the side seams. I sew a straight stitch with a standard sewing machine then finish the seam with an overlocker.
The same again for the inner leg seams.
For the centre seam one part leg is turned right side out and pushed inside the other. This allows the crotch seam to live up perfectly.
I make sure my label is caught in the centre back part of the seam.
Bib
This is the bit I do differently. Instead of sewing on the front and back bib separately, I sew then together at the side seams and then sew the bib to the pants.
There is no need to finish the seam because it will be enclosed inside the bib lining.
When sewing the bib to the pants I carefully match up all the seams. Then I pin and sew from inside the waistband, this keeps the other side at the top, out of the way of the machine sewing needle.
Again there is no need to finish the raw edges, as they will be neatly hidden inside the bib. I just press them towards the bib.
Straps
The straps are really simple to sew. Just folded right sides together, stitched then turned right side out.
After giving then a good press I top stitch around the edges to give then a really professional finish.
The straps are sewn onto the back bib. I measure 1.5cm (the seam allowance) from the bib edge.
Bib Back
The instructions say to sew the front and back bib lining in place separately. But as for the bib, I'm going to sew the lining front and back together first.
I press up the about 1cm along the bottom of the bib lining.
The bib lining goes over the bib right sides together, enclosing the straps. I pull the straps out of the way so that they do not get caught in the seam.
I clip the corners and curves to give a neater finish.
After a good press I top stitch around the edge of the bib.
I'm one of those lazy sewers (sewists?) who doesn't do tacking, but experience has taught me that it is just about impossible to pin the living is place well enough to top stitch the bid to the pant seam and lining. So I've done a quick line of machine tacking.
Then I've top stitched just above the waist seam, catching the seam allowance and the lining.
Back Elastic Casing
This little back band can be a little fiddly but it does give the romper a better fit so I feel that it's worth doing.
Alter pressing the raw edges to the inside, I stitch along the top and bottom.
And then I use a safety pin to insert the elastic.
Here's how it looks from the right side of the romper back.
Hem Band
The two sides of the hen bands are stitched into a tube right sides together.
Then I press the seam allowances open.
And press the hen bands is half wrong sides together.
I finish the hen bands with my over-locker.
Then press then downwards towards the feet.
The hems can be worn folded up at first then as the child grows they can very easily be folded down for an extra 6 months or so of wear.
Buttons
And last of all it's time or the button holes.
I've sewn on two pairs of buttons which means that the straps can be shortened very easily. As the child grows you simply nee dot start using the lower pair of buttons to give some extra length in the torso.
This seaside romper is availible to buy from my NuMonday shop or you can see below for details of how to make your own.
Tools and Materials:
I earn a small commission when products are purchased through the links I post here (at no additional cost to you).
Pin for later.
Here are some of my other designs made using this pattern:
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