Micro-Preemie/Preemie Gown and Sleeper Tutorial

This tutorial is mainly for bereavement purposes. I don't think these would work well in the NICU because they wouldn't allow for all of the wires, IV's, etc. I'm sure they could be modified for that purpose but my purpose was so that these sweet babies who die too soon would have something to wear. No parent should have to be sad because their baby is too small for clothes and therefore will go naked.

We will start with the Gown tutorial first. Some of the steps for the gown and sleeper are the same. If you want the pattern please see this website Teeny Tears. They will be uploaded there in the near future. A soft knit fabric works best for the gown, hat and sleeper.

Gown Instructions

1. Cut out 1 front piece, 2 back pieces and 2 sleeves from your fabric.

2. With right sides together sew center back seam up to wear the facing begins.

3. With right sides together sew sleeves to front and back pieces at the four shoulder seams.

4. Hem or add ribbing to the neck line. (I recommend adding ribbing because they are so tiny, making hemming difficult. You can make your own out of the same fabric by cutting a 1 1/2 inch wide strip of fabric. Fold each side in 1/4 inch and then fold in half. Place neck edge into the fold of the strip and topstitch down.) Fold the facings in while hemming or ribbing.

5. Hem sleeves.

6. With right sides together sew underarm/side seams. Clip at pivot. On one side leave a small 1/2 inch opening in the side seam about 1 1/2 inches from the bottom of the gown. (This is where the ribbon will go later)

Example of opening left for the ribbon.

Sew side seams where pins are.

7. Fold facings under and apply velcro closures. You could use snaps or buttons also but velcro seems to work well.
Note: When applying velcro make sure the "rough" side of the velcro is facing out away from the body. These babies have skin that is very fragile and we don't want anything "scratchy" touching them.

I use a wide zig zag stitch to attach the velcro.

8. Sew a 1 inch bottom hem. Thread the ribbon through using a safety pin and tie to gather the bottom of the gown.

Sorry the pictures are sideways. I couldn't get them to rotate.

Sleeper Instructions

1. Cut out 2 back pieces, 2 front pieces and 2 sleeves.

2. Sew center back and center front crotch with right sides together. Leave opening open (where facings start).

For center back sew from neck line and stop where the upslope stops.

For center front all you sew is where the curve is in the crotch area.

3. Sew sleeves to the front and back pieces at 4 shoulder seams with right sides together. 

4. Hem or add ribbing to the neck. (see the note above about ribbing) Fold the front facings in as you are hemming or adding ribbing.

5. Hem sleeves. 

6. With right sides together sew underarm, side seam, inseam, side seam and underarm. Clip at curves. Turn right side out. While sewing these seams fold up the back of the foot at the fold to line to create the heel. Pin in place and sew side seams to secure. 

7. Apply velcro closure to the facings. You could use buttons or snaps also but the velcro seems to work well. See Note above for tip on applying velcro.

Added Disclaimer: The patterns that will be posted on the Teeny Tears websites I designed by looking at and then altering common sleeper/gown patterns. The facing on most of the patterns I could find is perfect for a full size baby but when you make them smaller and smaller it became almost non-existent, therefore I made it larger on my patterns. I tried to make the opening large enough that dressing these tiny little ones would be feasible but that the clothes would still look like traditional baby clothes. The gown is probably easier to put on a tiny baby and could even be altered to where the facing extends to the bottom of the gown on the back with velcro closures all the way down (instead of a seam part way down with opening only half way) so that there is no pulling it over their legs or head. I purposefully placed the gown closure in the back to allow it to look more like traditional baby clothing.

Tote Tutorial (Repurposing Men's Dress Shirt)

I'm seriously pleased with how this tote turned out. I had seen a tutorial over at Make It-Love It Boys Church Tote Tutorial for a little boy church bag made from a mens shirt and tie and I fell in love. How adorable to use one of Dad's shirts and ties to make a bag for a little guy? Well, as things usually go for me I had to figure out how to make one for a little girl! I can't do things the easy way and just follow the tutorial given! I actually didn't follow her tutorial. I had made a tote before and really liked the way I had done it so I decided to do it that way. You can make the tote whatever size you would like and that your shirt will allow. 

Supplies: 

1 Men's long sleeve dress shirt

Duck Cloth for lining (about 2/3 of a yard)

Jersey knit for ruffles (perfect time to use an old t-shirt) You could use a cotton but you would have to hem the bottom and sides of the ruffles to prevent fraying. 

Ric-rack 

1 yard of fusible medium weight interfacing 

Coordinating thread, pins, scissors, etc.

This tutorial uses a 1/2 inch seam allowance unless otherwise stated.

Step 1: Iron your shirt and duck cloth

Step 2: Cut out 2 lining pieces, 2 outer pieces and 2 pieces of interfacing 17"wide x 12"tall making sure the buttons on the shirt go down the middle of the rectangle. Try to cut it out so that the pocket of the shirt is about 2 inches below the top. Sew down the front of the shirt to keep it from opening. 

Step 3: Cut a square out of the bottom corners of all pieces 2" x 2"

Step 4: Cut 2 strap pieces from the shirt and 2 from the duck cloth 2.5" x 17"

Step 5: If you want pockets cut them now. I chose to use one pocket and cut 1 rectangle 8.5"x10" from the lining and the shirt

Step 6: Cut 2 strips of your jersey knit 2" wide by double the width of the tote. So my strips were 2" x 35".  I was using a t-shirt I bought at Goodwill so I had to cut 4 strips 2"x17" and sew them together to get the length I wanted. 

Step 7: Gather your knit strips. For a tutorial on gathering go here: Make It-Love It Ruffle Tutorial I am in love with her blog and her tutorials. I chose to only put ruffles on the front but you could easily put them on the front and back of the tote. She has a great tutorial on making a tote with ruffles. Check it out here: Make It-Love It Ruffle Tote Tutorial

Step 8: Attach the ruffles to the bottom of the front of the tote. I chose to add the bottom ruffle about 2 inches from the top of the notched out corners. Add the top ruffle so that it overlaps the bottom one. 

Step 9: Add the ric-rack to cover the stitching across the top of the ruffles. You can use ribbon instead. 

Step 10: Iron on the fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the outer (shirt) fabric.

Step 11: Make dots on the back side of the lining and outer sides of the tote 1/2 inch in at each corner. 

Step 12: Sew your pocket right sides together leaving about a 2-3 inch opening on the long side for turning. Flip it, poke out corners and press flat. 

Step 13: If you want to add a closure  (like velcro or a magnetic closure) center them on the right side of the lining fabric about 1 inch from the top and sew them on.

Step 14: Sew pocket to center of back piece of lining. I don't close the hole left from flipping until this stage when I stitch it to the lining piece. 

Step 15: Sew strap pieces right sides together down the long sides, flip and press flat. 

Step 16: Sew sides and bottom of the outer pieces (right sides together) stopping at the dots you drew. 

Step 17: Sew sides and bottom of the lining pieces (right sides together) stopping at dots. Make sure to leave about a 4 inch opening down one side. This is so that you can turn it right side out in the end. 

Step 18: Make the squared off corners. Fold the corners so that the side and bottom seams line up. Sew across using a 5/8 inch seam allowance. Do this for the lining and outer shell. 

Step 19: Iron seams open. 

Step 20: Turn outer shell right side out. 

Step 21: Pin straps to the right sides of the outer shell about 3 inches from the seam and baste stitch in place about 1/4 inch from top. Make sure they aren't twisted. (I forgot to take a picture, sorry)

Step 21: Place outer shell into the lining (right sides together). Make sure the straps are tucked safely between the lining and outer shell. 

Step 22: Sew across the top using a 1/2 inch seam allowance back stitching across the straps to re-inforce. You can finish your edges at the top now to prevent fraying. I chose to use pinking shears instead of serging or zig-zag stitching. 

Step 23: Turn the bag right side out by pulling the outer shell through the hole left in the inner lining. Press flat. 

Step 24: Close the hole in the lining. You could choose to hand stitch but I just top-stitch about 1/8" seam allowance to close this opening. 

Step 25: Topstitch around the top of the bag about 1/2 inch from top to hold the lining and outer shell together. 

Ta-da your bag is done! 

I chose to add a flower to the base of one of the straps. I made the flower based off of this tutorial: Make It-Love It Shirred Fabric Flower Tutorial. I machine stitched it to the bag at the base of one of the handles. 

Sewing Baby Hats- My First Tutorial

UPDATE: 6/28/2012

On the recommendation of someone else I am linking up to The Shabby Creek Cottage Transformation Thursday. If you are from The Shabby Creek Cottage, welcome! If you are thinking of making these baby hats to donate to your local hospital please make 2 identical hats. This allows the family to have the same hat that the baby has without leaving the baby without. Please also take a moment to visit Teeny Tears here: Teeny Tears Diapers. This organization provides free patterns to make tiny flannel diapers so that babies who are born too early and don't survive or who are born stillborn can have a diaper to wear. If you would like to make hats, blankets or diapers to donate to my hospital I would be happy to accept donations. Please just leave a comment on the post and I will let you know where they can be sent. My goal is to provide 2 diapers, 2 hats and 2 blankets with 1 sleeper or gown to every family who is dealing with infant death at Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple, TX. 

This tutorial came about because I am making teeny tiny baby hats to donate to my hospital for babies who are born sleeping or die shortly after birth. These hats are for babies from about 16 weeks to about 32 weeks. Babies after 32 weeks can generally wear preemie size clothing and have hats and things available to them. Any mommy who has a baby who has died knows how important it is to have clothes/hat/blanket for your baby. No mommy wants to kiss their baby goodbye and send them off naked. I remember thinking "I don't want him to be cold. I want him to be cozy and warm." Us mommies also know that we don't have many "things" that belonged to our babies. This is especially true for the babies that are born really early. We treasure every thing we have that belonged to them or was for them.

Most patterns for teeny tiny baby hats are for knit/crochet. I can do neither. This prompted me to go on a hunt for a pattern that I could sew. I am fairly good at sewing, however I prefer simple projects. This was especially true for this purpose, the easier and faster the better, since I need to make a lot of hats.

This is really simple. Only the most basic skills are necessary.

Materials:
1. knit fabric, less than a half a yard is needed, you can make multiple hats from 1/2 yard (a soft baby knit is perfect for this). A knit fabric is a fabric that stretches (usually more in one direction than the other). Fabric stores often have really cute little baby prints in knits. Make sure you prewash your fabric following the fabric directions
2. Thread (a good all purpose thread is just fine)
3. Sewing Machine
4. Sewing Machine needle for knits (mine is a yellow shank needle, follow the size recommendations on the package)
5. ruler or measuring tape
6. scissors or rotary cutter
7. something that makes a circle, like a glass (trust me, it's way easier than trying to draw a perfect half circle)


Step 1:
You will want to cut a square of fabric 1 inch larger than the circumference of the babies head. If this is for an older child, just measure a hat you already have or measure their head. If it is for a baby here is a list of sizes. 16 weeks: 16cm; 17 weeks: 17cm; 18 weeks: 18 cm; 19 weeks: 19cm, 20 weeks: 20 cm; 22 weeks: 22cm; 24 weeks: 24 cm; 26 weeks: 25.5cm; 28 weeks: 27 cm; 30 weeks: 28.5cm; 32 weeks: 30 cm; 34 weeks: 31 cm; 36 weeks: 32cm; 38 weeks: 33cm; 40 weeks: 35cm.

There are 2.54cm per inch. Most measuring tapes/rulers/rotary cutting boards have cm markings also. I usually find my cm marking on my rotary board and then add 1 inch (I know different types of measurements so it can be confusing)

Example: 22 week hat; need 1 square of fabric 22cm +1inch

Step 2: Decide which direction your fabric stretches the most. You want the stretch to go horizontally in the hat.

Step 3: Fold the fabric, right sides together, so that the fold is perpendicular to the direction the most stretch is in

Step 4: Sew a 1/2 inch seam along the raw edges (you may have to go slow, knit can be tricky to sew on)

Step 5: You should now have a tube of fabric. Place the seam down the middle of the tube and lay open the seam

Step 6: Fold the tube on itself (like folding socks) so that the wrong sides are touching. Make sure the seam is lining up and laying flat

Step 7: Get your circular item and trace a semi circle on the fabric with the top of the semi circle almost touching the raw edge of the folded tube

Step 8: Sew along the line you traced (go slow, it's a curve). Trim off the excess to about a 1/8 inch seam allowance

Step 9: Turn your hat inside out and fold up the brim

TaDa! You did it!