Lotta Jansdotter Bloomers

We have been having some beautifully warm weather in Sydney the last couple of days and in the spirit I made my very first pair of baby bloomers - and if I may say so myself, they are just divine! I love baby bloomers and matching singlets for babies in summer - nice and cool but they still looked dressed. Unfortunately most of the bloomers available are very girly and not really suitable for boys.

So here they are in a bright blue gingham!

The pattern said to make your own bias tape from the material but seeing as the bias tape is on the inside of the pants I used some commercial bias tape that I already had in my stash. By doing this it meant that I only needed one fat quarter of material to make the pants - which I was very happy about because I have quite a stash of fat quarters.

They are a size 6-12 months but I was worried that they might be a little small. I've tried them very briefly on and they seem to fit N OK and he is 9 months next week. When I remake the pattern though I will cut it a little larger to make sure they still fit around December / January.

Of course I had to do the matching applique t-shirt to make it a complete outfit. I can't wait for summer now!

More outfits for the boys

I'm sure I've mentioned before how much I like the Little Explorer pattern by Make It Perfect? Well I've made another 5 pairs for the boys for Summer!

3 for J: 1 in black linen, and 2 in Denim (spiders and stripes contrast trim).

and 2 for N in Denim (same as J's - the spiders and stripes contrast trim). N was supposed to have another pair in a chocolate linen but I seemed to have *ahem* misplaced that material!

The shorts for N are a size 1 and he is only in size 00 at the moment which is why they look quite big on him.

I love the denim but next time I will do it with a contrasting thread. The matching thread colour just makes the pants look too homemade. I'm also thinking about putting in a fake fly on the denim ones.

And of course there will be matching appliqued tops to follow. I'm just trying to draw some of my own pictures this time so we will see how they go.

MIP Little Explorer Pants and Applique top

OK, I've done it - my first MIP perfect pattern completed. I have to say I LOVE LOVE LOVE the pattern - it really is so easy. I loved the pattern so much I even recommended it to a lady at my local fabric shop.

The Shorts - have I mentioned before I love the brown and blue combination??? Both my boys are very fair skinned so they really suit bright colours. The pants are made with a linen/cotton blend so they will be nice and cool for summer.

I love the elasticised waistband - not only is it super easy to make but it is perfect for J for pre-school. He get so focused on playing with his friends he only remembers to go to the toilet at the last possible minute and buttons and zips are very hard to undo.

The Applique tops - I think I have just fallen in love - how beautiful and EASY are applique tops? I can see so many more of these appearing in my boys wardrobes. The MIP Little Explorer pattern comes with a Turtle applique design but at 3 1/2 J is really into dinosaurs at the moment so I thought I would try a dinosaur applique I found on a blue t-shirt.

For some reason tops always seem to be in the wash in our house so I thought I had better make a second top for these shorts - or maybe I am just so excited about making applique tops. So top number 2 is a blue singlet with a rocket applique - perfect for those really hot humid summer days.

I have already made a second pair of these pants in black and white, and am off to Spotlight to pick up some more linen today. I think I might even try them in a denim. I think both J and N will have quite a few pairs of Little Explorer shorts in their wardrobes this summer - and don't even mention those applique tops!