Okay, so it's been a while but I mentioned a tutorial a while back (see here ) about the jumper I made Sophie from an old dress of mine. Well, I went through some old clothes of mine and I found this jersey knit dress I had held onto because I liked the bird print and thought I may use it for something for the girls. So, I decided to make another romper and this one is for Ruby. This time I decided to share step by step as a mini tutorial. I've not done many of these "tutorials" so this will not be super in depth with amazing photos (cuz I just didn't have time to do all that), but for those that have some sewing experience I think you will get the idea and it should be fairly easy.
So, here goes:
Here's the dress before. I think the bird print is super cute. *Note: you could probably use any fabric but I would suggest a jersey knit (tshirt type) dress because I simply cut a lot of the fabric and leave it without sewing the edge. This makes it much faster and easier to try it out. Jersey knit doesn't usually fray and if it does, it will tend to just roll a bit and it's not bad to leave as is, but that technique does not work for other fabrics...as they will fray and look messy.
This dress was a shorter (knee length) dress on me, so it's perfect for Ruby's size as a jumper with pants.
Now, I really wish I had a proper romper to use as a pattern for this, but we had just moved and were staying with friends while majority of our stuff is boxed away...so the best thing I could use for the length was her pajama onesie. I basically used it to get an idea for how long and where proportions should be (how wide, where the arm begins, etc.). If you have a summer romper, I would use that as your pattern to help guide. And always allow an extra inch away from the garment when cutting so you will have enough extra for sewing. Sometimes I allow 2 inches on the outside waist part so that it is not super snug, but these can be worn snug or loose. You can decide as you try it out for yourself. The good thing about the knit is that it will stretch.
Lay your onesie or romper on top of your dress and make sure the bottom of the leg is at the bottom of the dress. This way you will not have to hem the bottom because it is already stitched. Stretch the legs apart just enough where it lays natural (not too far apart because it will not work correctly). Then cut an upside down V shape for in between the legs.
Next, cut along the outside of the outfit (allowing that extra inch). At this point, with this specific dress, it had a seam that runs along the middle of the waist where it flared out at the bottom, so I stopped cutting once I reached that waist line. This is not the case for all dresses and you can just simply continue cutting a straight line all the way until you reach the armpit area, using your onesie outfit as your guide to know where to stop.
Now, you want to cut a slightly curved shape on both sides all the way up to the top of your dress that will be the arm holes. *Notice the dress extends past the baby outfit which is what you want because you want extra fabric to tie off the straps at the end.
This is what it should look like at this point. And if you look closely it is not perfect. This is just a quick, fun, project that's free! So, don't fret about the little stuff. When you sew the piece together, a straight stitch is what counts the most!
At this point, you could leave the neckline if you want, but I chose to cut mine off to match the rest of the raw edge look. It could go either way.
After I cut the neckline I simply sewed up the sides, starting at the bottom of the armpit corner and sewed down all the way to the bottom leg. Do this on both sides. Then, sew the inside of the legs together making that upside down V shape. And that's basically all the sewing there is. I then tie off the tops of the straps and left it as is. You could also sew the straps together if you wanted a flat strap.
And there you go! This was an experiment that has worked for me so far for 2 of my kids. Depending on your sewing machine, you may want to double stitch the part that is between the legs to prevent ripping (for when kids like to stretch, tumble, or do a split!)...and for extra concern about a tear just allow the extra inch or two to make sure it's roomy enough.
Ruby still wears diapers, so to change her we simply pull the romper down and then back up again. For those that are adventurous enough to try for snaps or buttons, that would be awesome! For me, this was a super quick and easy DIY. We think it turned out pretty cute!!
Lastly, because this was mama made and I don't have an industrial sewing machine, I machine wash and line dry to extend the wear for these types of projects. Otherwise they will possibly shrink (as most little clothes do in a hot dryer), or could tear more easily from being washed and dried several times. This has worked for us and they have had several wears out of their new outfit.
Happy sewing!!
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