I recently had a two-for-one baby shower for two of my friends. Due to conflicting schedules, we waited til after the babies were born to have the shower. That meant there were two babies to snuggle! It was hard, but someone had to do it. The theme of the shower was the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I love his illustrations. At some point, I decided to make outfits to match the theme. Since the shower was for a baby girl and a baby boy, I thought I could use the caterpillar and butterfly as my motifs. The pattern is Simplicity 5374, which I have gotten a TON of mileage out of. The Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric is from fabric.com
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| I really tweaked this pattern to make it how I wanted. The original pattern has crisscross overall straps like the overalls, but I didn't like them for the dress. I redrafted the back piece to include the fold-over straps. The butterfly I cut out freehand and kept cutting bits and pieces to add to it. Can you spy the pickle, lollipop and ice cream cone? I used a narrow zigzag stitch around the edges and it should fray softly after it is washed. I covered buttons with tiny scraps of the fabric. It is hard to tell from the picture, but the top edge of the jumper is edged with tiny points of purple rick rack. |
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The only thing I did differently on the overalls was adding a cuff of caterpillar fabric on the legs. I discovered snap tape, and I wonder where it has been all my life! It is expensive ($10/yard) but worth it. It is basically snaps on twill tape, and all you do is sew in the twill tape. The applique is made of wool felt, which holds up a lot better than el cheapo plastic felt (which also has its uses). I sewed the appliques on with black thread to add a sketchy look, and the feet and caterpillar fuzz are hand embroidered.
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