Alba is growing up quickly, she’s so active and inquisitive, there really is no stopping her. So I love making her clothes that are practical as well as cute. And the Avery Romper from Pattern Paper Scissors fitted the bill!
The romper itself uses stretch fabric, and is made from two pieces at the front and the back, meaning there’s a seam line along the front and back so may require pattern matching. There are options to add a gusset, and you can either use elastic or add a cuff at the ankle. I opted to add the gusset and use elastic in the ankles.
It didn’t take me long to pick a fabric for the romper. I bought a few remnants from Fabric Godmother in the summer, and this spot print French Terry was one of my favourites. Being quite stable, it seemed idea for this pattern and there was more than enough for the 6-12 month size with my 70cm remnant.
I’m so glad I used it. Part way through sewing I started to wonder if the colours were all a bit too much, but actually it’s great, and she’s had so many compliments on the first day she’s worn it (coincided with a lot of Zoom calls to grandparents).
Sewing up the pattern was fairly easy, if a little fiddly. The gusset especially was a little challenging, I didn’t look at the instructions properly, and so ended up putting it in the wrong way around. Then I ripped a bit unpicking, but I think I did ok with it (you can’t tell there are any flaws when she’s wearing it so in my book that’s a win). I’m also less confident sewing with stretch fabrics, but I learned a lot with this. The instructions recommended working with the lightning stitch on the sewing machine – I’ve avoided it after a few disasters in the past but it worked really well for this project.
Towards the end of construction, you need to fold the edges under to create the front and back finishes – this stretched out a little on the front, so next time I’ll use tissue paper to stabilise the fabric further. I always use a walking foot when sewing with knits but that didn’t seem to be enough here. Steam may help too, but let’s face it, I won’t be steaming seams every time I wash the romper!
Once finished I was a bit confused about getting her in and out of the romper. There are no poppers or buttons like in all of her other clothes so I wondered if I’d missed something in the instructions. It’s actually really easy, as the spaghetti style straps just pull down and I pop her in like a pair of trousers then put the straps over her shoulders – super easy!
I’m really pleased with this make, and will be adding to her collection as she grows. It’s a really nice, practical item that works for all seasons and all genders too!
sew slow Sarah 
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