Soldier’s Pinafore

Last week I cut my new fabric and made a little pinafore for my baby niece. I think she’s the best recipient of this fabric because her older brother is very interested in matryoshka dolls a.k.a. soldiers.

Initially I found a free baby pinafore pattern, but after I printed and cut out the pattern tissue, I couldn’t tell if it would be big enough or not. So I decided to take the safe route and buy a pattern.

I chose the pattern tissue from M2213, view D (in size small) to cut the fabric and the lining, but then I sewed it together as I wanted. The original pattern has open side seams with fabric ties, but I didn’t like that design, so I simply sewed it as a pinafore with buttoned shoulder straps. It took me longer to cut the fabric than to sew it together, but perhaps that’s because I hate cutting out fabric. The odd thing is, I hate cutting out fabric so much that I often put the project aside indefinitely after I finish cutting because I am so sick of it by that point. Maybe I hate cutting because I have so many projects cut but never sewn!

The lining is a lightweight cotton gingham from my fabric stash. Although it doesn’t exactly match, I decided it was unlikely people would notice the lining. I had some cute baby buttons in my button box, but decided to go with the plainest buttons possible: 3/4″ navy blue, shank buttons. Plain definitely looks best, methinks.

I can’t tell you whether or not I’m happy with the finished product since I haven’t seen what it looks like in action, but if it fits properly, I’ll be very happy with it. Her mother says it is still a bit big for her now, so maybe she’ll grow into it by Spring.

It’s such a soft corduroy that I’m tempted to get some more to make something for myself. I have a few scraps left over, so maybe I could put those to good use.