I can't help myself

It's been nearly two months since I got to meet my new niece in Boston. Her mom and dad are pretty good about posting pictures and videos to a shared folder for far-flung family to ooh and aah over, but of course that's just not the same as seeing her in person. I miss her. 

Lucky for us, we will all get to see her at the end of this month at a family reunion, but until then I could not resist making her another little outfit.

Quite honestly, a new set of clothes is about the last thing little V needs. My brother and SIL were inundated with presents of baby clothes when she was born, both new and handed down, and even with the frequent changes required, they have more than enough to go several days between loads of laundry.

That said, she only has a few handmade outfits from Auntie Sue-Sue (note: I most definitely did not come up with that nickname but it seems to have stuck for the time being. V has another aunt Susan, so this is one possible way to avoid confusion, I suppose. Obviously, the other Susan is more sophisticated than I am or she would have a dorky nickname too...) and seeing as it is my duty to dote, I made her another one.

The designs should look familiar (re: I'm a broken record when it comes to choosing sewing patterns). The red top is another from the Lullaby Layette from Oliver & S, and I scavenged the fabric from a failed tank top I made myself. That particular fail was disappointing because this fabric is so nice (a lovely voile by Anna Maria Horner that I bought several years ago) but at least the whole thing didn't go to waste. 

I sewed the entire top with French seams, even the set-in sleeves. BOO-yah! Using the serger just didn't seem right for this beautiful, light fabric, and I'm pleased that the effort paid off. 

The front closures are supposed to be snaps, but I have a lot of trouble with those. The first set of outfits I made, I got the snap setter tool to work okay (not great, but okay), but this time around, it just wasn't happening. I ruined two snaps trying to get it to work before I gave up and just went with tiny buttons and buttonholes because I was afraid of bolloxing up the whole garment. I ordered that snap setter tool from Oliver&S as well because the pliers-like tool I had tried using in the past didn't work either. Now I'm at a loss; how the hell do you get consistent results with snaps? Arg.

The shorts are another pair of cuffed knit shorts from Brindille and Twig. Unlike the first time I made this pattern, I attached the pieces together correctly on my first try and thus avoided picking out triple stretch stitch. Booyah again. The fabric is red interlock I bought for $1 at a yard sale and made into some shorts for Daniel. There were just enough leftovers for this little pair. I love that baby clothes don't take much fabric (and that the baby doesn't have any choice about wearing them, mwahahaha).

I sent this outfit off earlier this week and it should arrive today, so hopefully this post isn't a spoiler for anyone. 

I've been sewing for myself, too, and have plans for more, but getting photos is the hard part. I guess I could rope my kids into taking pictures, but that might involve bribery (re: ice cream) of some sort. I'll do my best, though. Summer is flying by!