petchy
22-09-2006, 08:42 PM
finances are a bit tight so there was NO way i could buy a kindercoat or mamajacket for the colder weather, so i decided to have a go at making one myself!
action pics will follow tomorrow when ruben is awake and can model, i have just tried it with a big teddy so far but it seems OK! here's what i used and roughly how i did it - sorry if it makes no sense to you at all... i'm rubbish at explaining! will probably be easier to understand once i post some pics tomorrow!
I USED:
- 2 very cheap fleece jumpers (mine were £3 each from primark)
one in a size to fit me (men's size S - they didn't have ladies fleece jumpers) and one in the largest size they had (men's size XXL) just to get extra fabric.
- 3 open-ended zips to match colour of jumper
(mine were 22" long, but they should be long enough to go from the bottom hem of the jumper up to where your baby's head usually comes. They all need to be the same length!)
- about 1 metre of round elastic
- 4 plastic toggle thingys to go on the end of the elastic for adjustability
- a bit of sew on hook-and-loop
- sewing thread
- sewing machine
AND HERE'S HOW I DID IT:
first i needed to turn the jumper into a jacket with zips down BOTH sides... so i cut the jumper that was my size in half straight down the middle and sewed on two zips, one on the front and one on the back. now i had a jacket that looked pretty normal apart from it also had a zip running down the back, and the zips did not reach all the way to the top.
next i made the insert that will cover ruben when i'm wearing him. i took the XXL size jumper and cut the whole front of the body off it to get a rectangle that was the same height as the zip. then i took the top bit of one sleeve and turned it into a pixy style hood: i cut a rectangle the same width as the body piece, and about 15cm tall and stitched it onto the body. i then folded the whole piece lengthwise and stitched along the top edge - this made the hood. i then hemmed the hood.
now i had a rectangle with a hood attached to it... next i stitched the third zip onto the long edges of this rectangle, one part on each side, aligned with the bottom. i then took some ribbon and stitched it on where the hood met the body - this formed a "case" for the elastic.
I put elastic through this "case" i'd just made and finished off the ends with the toggles, now i could adjust the width of the neck hole for the baby. then i put another piece of elastic through the bottom part (which conveniently was already hemmed!) which allows me to adjust the insert at the bottom and make it nice and snug to keep the cold out.
almost done! now i had three pieces: two half jackets and one insert. these can all be zipped together in different ways to make either:
- a jacket with the insert on the front
- a jacket with the insert on the back
- a jacket without the insert (and a spare zip running down your back! lol - might make people stare at me if i'm wearing it "sans baby" but who cares...)
the last bit i needed to do was sort out closures for the top bit of the jacket (front and back) as the zip didn't go all the way up. I used more of the arm of the XXL jumper and made two flaps that fasten with velcro.
and TA-DAAAA...! it's complete! it took me just under 2 hours to do, and only cost me about £12!
(proud of myself now!)
action pics will follow tomorrow when ruben is awake and can model, i have just tried it with a big teddy so far but it seems OK! here's what i used and roughly how i did it - sorry if it makes no sense to you at all... i'm rubbish at explaining! will probably be easier to understand once i post some pics tomorrow!
I USED:
- 2 very cheap fleece jumpers (mine were £3 each from primark)
one in a size to fit me (men's size S - they didn't have ladies fleece jumpers) and one in the largest size they had (men's size XXL) just to get extra fabric.
- 3 open-ended zips to match colour of jumper
(mine were 22" long, but they should be long enough to go from the bottom hem of the jumper up to where your baby's head usually comes. They all need to be the same length!)
- about 1 metre of round elastic
- 4 plastic toggle thingys to go on the end of the elastic for adjustability
- a bit of sew on hook-and-loop
- sewing thread
- sewing machine
AND HERE'S HOW I DID IT:
first i needed to turn the jumper into a jacket with zips down BOTH sides... so i cut the jumper that was my size in half straight down the middle and sewed on two zips, one on the front and one on the back. now i had a jacket that looked pretty normal apart from it also had a zip running down the back, and the zips did not reach all the way to the top.
next i made the insert that will cover ruben when i'm wearing him. i took the XXL size jumper and cut the whole front of the body off it to get a rectangle that was the same height as the zip. then i took the top bit of one sleeve and turned it into a pixy style hood: i cut a rectangle the same width as the body piece, and about 15cm tall and stitched it onto the body. i then folded the whole piece lengthwise and stitched along the top edge - this made the hood. i then hemmed the hood.
now i had a rectangle with a hood attached to it... next i stitched the third zip onto the long edges of this rectangle, one part on each side, aligned with the bottom. i then took some ribbon and stitched it on where the hood met the body - this formed a "case" for the elastic.
I put elastic through this "case" i'd just made and finished off the ends with the toggles, now i could adjust the width of the neck hole for the baby. then i put another piece of elastic through the bottom part (which conveniently was already hemmed!) which allows me to adjust the insert at the bottom and make it nice and snug to keep the cold out.
almost done! now i had three pieces: two half jackets and one insert. these can all be zipped together in different ways to make either:
- a jacket with the insert on the front
- a jacket with the insert on the back
- a jacket without the insert (and a spare zip running down your back! lol - might make people stare at me if i'm wearing it "sans baby" but who cares...)
the last bit i needed to do was sort out closures for the top bit of the jacket (front and back) as the zip didn't go all the way up. I used more of the arm of the XXL jumper and made two flaps that fasten with velcro.
and TA-DAAAA...! it's complete! it took me just under 2 hours to do, and only cost me about £12!
(proud of myself now!)