Is It Summer Yet?

The weather here has been great so for this week’s Project Run and Play theme – sportswear – I decided to make a fun spring-summery outfit.  When I think of sportswear, I think comfort.  So of course knits were in order.  Using some old t-shirts I’ve saved through the years, I made this Butterfly Tunic and the Is It Summer Yet Pants.

It feels sort of cruisewear-ish which is perfect for DC this time of year.  I added the sketched butterflies, flutter sleeves, and ruffles on the back of the tunic so it would add a little girly whimsy to the outfit and not feel so adult.

But lets talk about the pants, shall we?  Bean is a cloth diapered baby so fit is very tough when it comes to pants.  Everything commercial seems to be made with very little bum room since all the disposables are so trim these days.  She has a hand me down pair of jeans that are adorable on her, but once she’s in them they are so tight in the butt that she can’t stand or crawl very easily, hehe. 

So knits it is.  Lots and lots of leggings since they stretch over that whole diaper area.

lots of room for movement

I wanted to make her a pair of pants that were comfy but a little stylish as well.  These have plenty of room to crawl, stand, and (eek!) run – once she decides it’s time.  I made them a little loose so there’s room to grow as well.  The v-shape details in the front and back as well as a slight boot cut make these pants look fitted vs just a pair of comfy sweats.  To be honest I drafted this pants pattern a couple of months ago, but I’ve been tweaking it to fit just right over a cloth diapered bum and this seems to be the best in terms of fit. 

Even though the fashion gods have deemed it no longer improper to wear white after labor day, my husband still insists on abiding by that rule.  It cracks me up that he has his light khaki work pants in a different section of the closet until it’s “okay” to wear them again.  For that reason I named these the Is It Summer Yet Pants.  White pants on a baby is not exactly the smartest idea, but I have so many old white t-shirts around and I thought a white pair of fitted pants would be so cute.  The pink stitching details is my favorite part.

Drafting the top happened yesterday.  My older sister was visiting this week and left on Wednesday, so I didn’t get a chance to sit and make a pattern or sew until yesterday morning.  Well, the real reason is that I couldn’t decide what I wanted to make for a top.  I really wanted to make the pants and I started them last week, but the top was running around in my head changing shape over and over again.

A tunic seems best for Bean at this age since it will fit in terms of length for a long while.  She could certainly wear this with shorts, a skirt, or even just bloomers once it gets crazy hot here – and it will.  The color blocking came about when I was looking through the t-shirts and found three different colored shirts that when put together had this Caribbean beachy feel I really liked.  A flutter sleeve added to the butterfly theme and is really my favorite type of sleeve for summer – just a hint of something to protect the shoulders from the sun, but airy enough to stay cool.  The butterflies were cut out on a whim without drawing a pattern or anything and I like the sketched feel of how I stitched them to the top.  I wanted more than just the ruffles on the back to add some youth to the tunic and I think this was a great touch.

The perfect outfit for singing, blowing bubbles, and eating mama’s camera case, hehe

We’re officially ready for summer here.  Grass stains, and all! Linking up to: