The pattern

The pattern I used was a McCalls pattern M6541. My Mum found this pattern originally, and whilst I’m not really a fan of the appliqué designs, the actual dress pattern itself was just what I was looking for. I’ll probably have a go at making some of the little shorts for summer at some point, but the design I made here was design B.

Making the dress

This pattern is advertised as being an easy make, but to be honest I found some of the instructions a little confusing! I ended up finishing the inside of the neck a bit differently to what it said on the pattern because I just couldn’t work out what to do. I don’t have an overlocker so I couldn’t finish it that way. In the end, I just used my pinking shears – the neck facings have interfacing on anyway so it seemed like this was the way to go. If anyone has made this pattern and managed this bit, do let me know!

The other thing that might not be easy to do if you’re new to sewing is the buttonholes. I used the automatic buttonhole stitch on my machine (so nice after doing it manually on my old one!), and this did make it easier. If you are put off by that, you could easily use some snap fasteners instead and just sew the buttons on the top as decorative ones.

This dress was just the right fit for Little One, although it wasn’t brilliant for crawling around in! So she just had it on for a little while, but it felt so lovely to have made something special for her birthday. I’m hoping it will be the first of many! Here’s a shot of the full dress. In case you’re new to my blog, we’re not posting photos of Little One on here so this super hanger is from RedHandGang on Etsy.

I’ve got another birthday make to share with you and I’m hoping to share that over the next couple of days. I’m also working on the next newsletter, so don’t forget to sign up!

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I wanted to make a pillow for tummy time because I had all the materials and it seemed a bit bonkers to pay a lot of money for one! So I had a look online and found this Poppy pillow pattern from Made by Marzipan. It is actually for a much larger pillow for feeding support, but a friend had already bought me one of those. So I reduced the patterns by 50% to make a more suitable baby-sized one. There is a pattern to make the cover for this pillow form, which you can find here (at full size they will fit a Boppy pillow).

The pattern is super easy to follow, and even with a huge baby bump which meant I could hardly reach my machine, I was able to make the cushion and a cover in a morning. Pretty good going considering how long it had been since I had made anything! I did make one other change in addition to the size – the original pattern says to insert a zip fastening. But to be honest, I really couldn’t be bothered with that at the time! So I decided to use Velcro instead, leaving a large opening on the top side to be able to attach it. It’s a baby friendly Velcro, so she won’t scratch herself on it!

I made a couple of spare covers with some other fabric from my stash. Having a large stash comes in handy sometimes! I love the zebras, and the little people are on the back of the quilt that I made (see more here).

I’m really pleased with how this pillow turned out – if you’re wanting to make something for your own baby it’s an easy project, or it would make a lovely gift. Little One seems to be enjoying it too!

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