I'm back in town from Utah , almost over a stress-induced cold and I've completed the inevitable work that awaits you after every vacation. I've had so much fun - even the cold was well- timed - but I'll just have to report on one thing at a time.
October fun event #1: welcoming Elijah to our family.
Elijah was officially adopted and made part of the my cousins' family last week. I was lucky - Jen agreed to let make his outfit. I rarely make blessing outfits for babies, because I need more time to prepare. I had two months to plan for and work on Elijah's romper for the temple ceremony. Of course I did it all the last two weeks of that two months - but at least that way I knew what size he was!
That explosion of white fabric that I mentioned was the result of my Search for the Perfect Fabric to match a soft, beautiful Sea Island cotton. As I've mentioned before, indecisiveness rules my brain. Should I use linen - beautiful, but inclined to wrinkle like crazy? Or a broadcloth - not wrinkly, but too matte of a finish for the matte knit? Is it white enough? Or... Each time I chose a fabric, I prewashed it, dried it, changed my mind.
I should note that my pile of white fabric suffers from one failing: I rarely mark what kind of fabric it is. I've learned to differentiate my batistes from my broadcloth, but still. Just like when I used to record to VCR and never bothered to mark the tapes.
Which fabric did I choose? At long last, I drove to the nearest Bed Bath & Beyond and bought a high-count sateen pillowcase.
I interlined the knit with fusible interfacing, and spent much of one night taking out the interfacing - the soft sea island cotton looked too much like seersucker with the interfacing in. I didn't mind the process - the fabric was a dream to sew with the interfacing, and now the seams are interfaced to prevent stretching. It all worked out.
The sun is of padded satin stitch (outline with split stitch, fill in with running stitch, and then lay satin stitch over those foundation stitches), and the rays are couched. I was going to use satin stitch or shadow embroidery on alternating rays, but it all kept up looking like the Japanese flag from WWII, and that just didn't seem appropriate...
Buttons and the embroidery were complete at 12:15; I took the picture at 12:16; and grandma and I were on the way to the temple at 12:30. I do like my deadlines.
Elijah behaved beautifully, and he looked like a little prince. I'm so happy that I was able to sew this outfit, and that he's part of our family now and forever.