Preemies hold a special place in my heart having had two. It was a very scary situation when my twins came into this world. But the nurses in the NICU did their very best to make us all comfortable during our 9 week stay. One of the simple things that parents or anyone really take for granted is the comfort in seeing your baby or babies in clothing. Something so simple can easy the mind of a worried parent. And to be honest when your babies are hooked up to leads and IVs clothing can kinda hide it all and for a moment you feel normal. Finding clothes in stores for 2 lb babies is impossible. Most of the clothes that are deemed preemie are I swear newborn size clothes but a couple of inches shorter in length. Preemie babies are just small length wise but also width wise. And finding something that is easily changeable while baby is in an isolette and hooked to wires and tubes and what not forget it! I have been surfing for awhile looking for something that I could sew for preemie clothes and the only one that had a pattern for sewing and not knitting was at EverythingYourMamaMade&More. I have yet to use a pattern for any of the challenges this month but knew I would need one for this. This is a very simple pattern and I have to say that it took me longer to turn the piece right side out then it did any of the other steps combined.
Here is the back piece and the two front pieces, cut two of each piece.
Yes I know the pic is upside down..long story.
Lay the pieces like so:
Sew the top pieces at the shoulder together. Then open flat and press flat.
Do the same thing to the second set of pieces. Then pin flat right side to right side.
Sew around the whole thing leaving a couple of inches at the bottom of the to turn.
I trimmed around the edges after sewing to make it a little easier to turn and lay the corners flat.
Next turn and press. And then sew a all the way around to give it a more finished look and to close the hole that you used to turn.
This is what it will look like when almost finished. I forgot to buy Velcro so I still have to sew that on and then the curved back piece will attach to the front, see pic below.
This is what it will look like when finished. I'll be getting so more fabric and Velcro at the store today to make more and finish them.
This is one of little Missy's dolls that is a little chunkier than she was when she was born but the same basic size. This should fit a 2-5 pound baby with no problem. I'm going to make a slightly longer strip of Velcro on the pieces than what were on the pattern so it can be adjusted width wise making it more likely to be usable for micro preemies (1-3 lbs).
I'm so excited to make some more of these in different prints! I think this is my most rewarding challenge. This could become habit forming! If you are reading this and have a baby in the NICU I would be more than happy to make and send you some of these, so please don't hesitate to ask!
Have a great weekend and I can't wait to post a pile of these!
