Sunday, September 4, 2011

Baby Season - Decorated Onesie Tutorial

It is baby season around here! My sister has three colleagues who are expecting babies in the next month, and I know a few people also waiting for an impending arrival! What better way to welcome them but with a cute handmade gift!



All you need is your scrap stash and a plain onesie (and of course your sewing machine).


Go through your stash and find a fabric that you want to use. If it's plain or patterned, you can turn it into some ruffles or yo-yos to embellish the onsie, or if it has a cute print, you can use the print as the feature, like I have with the owl onesie above.

I had some Zoology in Sea from the Cute Critters Collection by Michael Miller in my stash, so I chose that.

 I decided to make the hippo the feature, so I cut a small piece of adhesive bonding paper (I use vliesofix, but there are many types you can use) according to the size of the piece I fabric I wanted, then ironed it to the wrong side of the fabric.


I then used my pinking shears to cut the exact piece I wanted for my applique. You don't have to use pinking shears, but I like the neat and decorative look it gives the edges.


Once I had my piece nicely trimmed to size, I peeled off the backing paper and positioned it onto my onesie.


Once the fabric was in the desired position, I firmly ironed it into place. 


The next step is to stitch your applique. For this one, I chose a complementary teal thread that looked great against the grey background and matched the hippo, and I used a straight stitch. You can use any stitch or thread you like, zig zag is also a great choice.

  Once you have sewn neatly around the applique, pull your threads through to the wrong side, tie off and trim and you are done! A quick and cute addition that will make your baby gift unique.

For this onesie, there was also a frog on the scrap that I couldn't resist, so I added it to the back. Here is the finished product - the stitching doesn't show up in the photo, but it looks great!


Inspired by the Happy Dress, here is another one I did using some yellow polka dot scraps:



Hope this inspires you to use up those scraps and make some cute masterpieces! I would love to see yours - please share a picture over at my Flickr Group!

Just finally... we are celebrating Fathers' Day in Australia today.

Trev - thanks for being a wonderful husband and father - you are the best and we LOVE you!!


5 comments:

  1. Creative! :) I will be needing baby gifts in the next few months. I will have to remember you ideas and dig through my scrap fabric and ribbon bags!

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  2. these are sooo cute! If you don't have one already, you should definitely start an Etsy shop!!

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  3. Cute! I just did a onesie tutorial as well! You can check it out over at:

    http://sewgloried.blogspot.com/2011/09/ruffly-chenille-onesies.html

    :) Lisa

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  4. adorable!! I love the little ruffle in the back! :) Thanks so much for linking up to Sassy Sites for our FFA party! Have a FABulous Friday!!

    XOXO!!
    Marni

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  5. Great idea for using scrap fabric. Hand made gifts are always appreciated! Especially by new moms!

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