First outfit made from a pattern!

A few weeks ago, Joann’s had a crazy sale on McCall’s sewing patterns—only $.99 each! I had never sewn anything from a real pattern, but I really wanted to try it, so I looked for some toddler clothing patterns. There were a lot of cute ones, but I managed to limit myself to five, and I bought fabric and notions for one of the patterns. I fell in love with this adorable watermelon fabric and found a nice contrasting pink. The pink fabric was near the end of the bolt, so the fabric cutter offered me the rest of the bolt for half price. Sure why not? With a second girl on the way, I’m sure I’ll find plenty of uses for pink fabric!

I didn’t get around to opening the pattern envelope until last week, and when I started reading the instructions, I immediately ordered a copy of Sewing for Dummies, because apparently I am one. But I got tired of waiting for the book and I wanted to get started, so I did the best I could interpreting the instructions. And I did it!

I just love that fabric! It’s so summery and cute, and Taylor looks so sweet in it! I took a few liberties with the techniques recommended in the pattern instructions, but I think it came out pretty well for my first attempt. In case you’re interested, this outfit was made using McCall’s pattern #M5416 in size 2. It’s a bit large on her right now, which is perfect because it should last the summer. To get a better picture of the shorts, I asked Taylor to find her belly button:

This was a nice pattern to start with, because I had the opportunity to try a few new things—an elastic waistband, patch pockets, iron-on interfacing, and the amazing automatic buttonholer on my sewing machine. Who knew buttonholes could be so easy? And I may or may not have fused my first piece of interfacing to the press cloth—but I’ll never tell.

Now that I know I can muddle my way through a pattern, I’ll be on the hunt for more adorable fabric to make cute clothes for my girls!