Project Run and Play Season 6

Project Run & Play: LoveCats

By ari - February 01, 2013

Edit: You can find the Project Run & Play entry for this look here

We're so wonderfully wonderfully wonderfully pretty!




It wasn't until I was working on the romper that I knew that I would call this outfit Lovecats! Hearts & kitties feature on this vintage-look fabric I used for the pinafore dress so it just made sense. Also I taught Vince to sing along to the Ba ba-da da da da da-da part while I worked.


You can vote for your favourite Love is in the Air look here


This week's theme for Project Run & Play was Love is in the Air. It didn't take me long to decide I wanted  to use this fabric in my stash. It has hearts on it. And kitties! And it's NOT PINK. Ticking all the boxes you guys!


I made a two-piece {or is it 3-piece including the shoes?} set for Eddie this week! And the best part is that both pieces work really well as stand alones! I made a backless romper with a wide peterpan collar and a dress with a heart-shaped bib. I also made little mary jane slippers with cat faces.


The Romper

The romper was such a fun piece, once it was done. I made it up three times trying to perfect each detail. In the end I was able to make the romper pattern ONE PIECE. Yep. It has two joining seams: one down the centre back at the bottom and one at the crotch. 

It is a plain vanilla colour and features a wide peter pan collar that does up behind her neck with a button and a loop. The neckline is bound with matching super-thin bias-tape. 
SO EXCITING MODELLING YOU GUYZ!
The romper is backless with some elastic around her little waist in the back to keep the bottom closed & snug over her nappy. At first, the front gaped a lot at the sides, but I eliminated the gape by creating a dart in the pattern and then pivoting it out {it is my super geeky pattern-making fun part}. It wasn't until after I did that that I realised I could make it one pattern piece. Earlier versions had it a little trapezoid-shape top attached to some diaper cover bottoms, which was totally fine but I knew it would look better without a seam across the front waist.


The inside of the romper is the fancy part! I appliquéd a heart to the inside on the chest. On the heart I had written Edison and with an arrow through it in chalk, and then carefully machine-stitched over it. Then I attached the heart to the romper lining and lowered the feed dogs on my machine and removed the presser foot. Carefully moving the lining in circles I did this pretty loopy lace-like effect!


I love how it turned out, and I love that it is on the inside as a little secret to Eddie. The outside is nice and plain and is going to be super versatile in her wardrobe. We can just throw a skirt on or little pants and she has an outfit, or even one of her numerous dresses, with the peterpan collar peeking over the top and her nappy covered it's a fantastic base.


This is the reason I wanted it backless. Those back rolls man! Cute on zee baby - on mama... not so much.



The Dress

The dress is quite simple, and I had it done up before I even started the boy pieces for the last two weeks!
STILL STOKED ABOUT MODELLING YOU GUYZ!
The skirt is a rectangle, gathered up for extra fullness. A second rectangle in pink was gathered up into an underskirt to make it even extra full! It wasn't foofy enough though so gathered tulle was stitched onto the hem of the underskirt. Yeh. Foof complete.


The top skirt is hemmed with this cute decorative heirloom-type stitch. It took a long time on my machine, but it was worth it! I love the effect!


The skirt has a small waistband, and sits flat at the front. There is elastic from side-seam to side-seam across the back to keep it snug against her back. It sits just above the romper, making the backless effect complete.

The front of the skirt has a bib in the shape of a heart.


A small strip of fabric with buttons attached was made into a strap, I stitched buttonholes onto the heart bib so that the strap couldn't fasten to the dress and become a halterneck. The ends of the strap have several buttons so that when she grows we can adjust it. Not sure if that is going to work, because the skirt is pretty short as it is. Are chest-tutus in yet?

The Shoes


Using the Charlotte Mary Jane's pattern again, I made these Kitty shoes for Eddie! Oh man they were fun! I used the same vanilla-coloured fabric as the romper for the outside & the strap, lining them in white felt. I wanted something sturdier on the inside because I knew that I would be 'embroidering' little kitty faces onto them so they needed some stability.

Before sewing them together, I made teensy tiny little kitty ears and made two slashes in each shoe upper. Then I slid the ears and pinched the fabric together and stitched it. Then i sewed the shoes up and 'embroidered'the kitty faces.



Yeh see how 'embroidered' keeps happening in commas? That's because I can't embroider. Just like I can't knit and I can't crochet, so when I attempt these things I feel like it is bad of me to claim that I 'embroidered' or 'crocheted' or 'knitted' anything. Maybe I'm trying not to offend you guys who actually can do those handcrafts? Anyway I like the way they came out!

The Outtakes

So I had this cute idea in my head of taking a photo of Eddie with my cat Jack and mum's cat Percy... 

This is our cat Jackasaurus Rex. Eddie is all "what the heck are you doing on my blanket dude..."

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

Children + Animals = Not an easy photo to set up.

Especially two cats. 

So my mum thought she should give them some food to make them sit still.


She wasn't upset at the cats, just that she had been plonked down and she doesn't like that anymore. Clingy baby is clingy & I am more than happy to oblige the little snugglepot . But yeh, cat food isn't so attractive...

And then when the cats realised they were involved, Percy got all up in my face and loved up my camera...


Thanks for the close-up Perce.





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29 comments

  1. Unknown1 February 2013 at 23:25

    So cute. She looks way more excited to model for you than Vinnie did at that age. Love the back rolls!

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  2. Suzanne Winter1 February 2013 at 23:26

    Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,. the cuteness, I can't look away - those kitty shoes (which are obviously kitties - SO.DANG.CUTE!) Great job as always my friend!!!

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  3. Ajaire1 February 2013 at 23:43

    Oh my goodness that romper! I love the contrast of a peter pan collar and then open back. Too cute. Add in the shoes and apron and it's amazing. I love the kitties eating on the blanket. What we do for photo ops haha.

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  4. Jenni1 February 2013 at 23:43

    So now I'll have that infectious song in my head all day! I guess it's worth it though for such a cute outfit. The shoes are my favorite...the kind of thing you make but you can't stop exclaiming, "They're so cute! I just love them!" Nice job, again!

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  5. Paisley Roots2 February 2013 at 00:04

    Those shoes are the most adorable things I have ever seen! Love the outfit, but I seriously can't get over those shoes!!

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  6. LLADYBIRD2 February 2013 at 00:44

    Oh my god, that entire outfit is so cute. I looove the coral tulle paired up with red (one of my favorite color combos!), and the backless onesie with the peter pan collar AND THOSE BUNNY SLIPPERS, GAAAH. True story: I learned how to knit just so I could knit myself a pair of bunny slippers. Because, duh, adult bunny slippers. But Eddie's are 100000x cuter. And hey, whether or not you consider yourself skilled at embroidery - those faces sure look embroidered to me ;)

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  7. Anonymous2 February 2013 at 00:47

    I love the white romper!

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  8. Anonymous2 February 2013 at 00:48

    I love the white romper!!!

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  9. kristin2 February 2013 at 01:28

    Dying over this one - SO CUTE!!!

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  10. Unknown2 February 2013 at 01:34

    I love it. I have the sudden urge to find a baby and pinch their little back rolls. hahaha! Each piece would make a cute bathing suit. Thanks for sharing

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  11. Justine of SewCountryChick2 February 2013 at 02:41

    Your work has a retro whimsicalness but moderness that is so inspiring. Got my vote!

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  12. Chelise2 February 2013 at 02:58

    Your looks are so fresh and so fun. I seriously look forward every week mostly to see what you come up with! This outfit and your little girl are so perfect.

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  13. Celina2 February 2013 at 03:11

    I'm speechless- this is too much goodness all in one post! I hope you win so we get a tutorial. Well I hope you win no matter! All fingers cross XX

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  14. dana2 February 2013 at 03:19

    This is so playful and fun! Love the lovecats and cure references. The shoes are killing me. And she is just the cutest model! Awwwww.
    Really fun Ari!

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  15. Alicia G2 February 2013 at 03:32

    Oh your look this week completely won me over with that cat fabric ( also the freaking adorable romper and baby)! Will you post a tut for your romper patter??? I love how it is backless, so sweet!

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  16. Alicia G2 February 2013 at 03:32

    Oh your look this week completely won me over with that cat fabric ( also the freaking adorable romper and baby)! Will you post a tut for your romper patter??? I love how it is backless, so sweet!

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  17. Unknown2 February 2013 at 04:46

    Holy crap! This is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Ever.

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  18. Unknown2 February 2013 at 04:47

    Holy crap! This is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Ever.

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  19. Unknown2 February 2013 at 05:44

    You have completely outdone yourself on this bit of vintage goodness. Any chance you may post the pattern or a tutorial?? I'd love to have my hand at one of these! So glad that your season on PR&P has been such a successful one, you are a great seamstress!

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  20. Shannon2 February 2013 at 05:56

    Love the one piece pic with your little one looking up at the camera. She looks like the sweetest little ballerina. Awesome job, Max!

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  21. Unknown2 February 2013 at 08:42

    OOOOOOMMMMGGGGG.... kitties photobombing, ridiculously cute baby and you know how much I love this outfit... oh! and kitty booties... NOTHING screams Valentine's like this.... I can't wait to show this to Jon!!

    much love and xxxxxx

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  22. Olga Becker @ Coffee+Thread2 February 2013 at 09:16

    Love the heart shaped bodice. Adorable. Agree about the baby rolls, they are super kissable :) The fabric is a lot of fun. Great job!

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  23. Stacey2 February 2013 at 12:24

    You seriously have to win this week! This little outfit is AMAZING! Does it come in adult sizes? Hahahaha. Eddie is such a cutie, I love how excited she looks in her photos - and how upset she looks at the cats, lol.

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  24. Sascha2 February 2013 at 12:40

    Oh this is such a winner. You brought it on this week!

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  25. Scary @ Shaffer Sisters2 February 2013 at 20:22

    First off she is beautiful! I love this outfit! It is perfect for the age. I love the heart apron and the open back and the peter pan collar and the tulle at the bottom. I really love it all great jobI think your hard work will be rewarded as she wears it in the coming months.

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  26. Kat3 February 2013 at 07:11

    Oh that is so cute! I love everything. Rompers are so super cute on babies. I think I need to get my act together and start sewing for Imogen.

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  27. Laura4 February 2013 at 07:42

    Crazy cute! You've outdone yourself this week, well you do every week.

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  28. Inder-ific8 February 2013 at 11:02

    O.M.G. (I am speechless with cute.)

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  29. Nikki28 May 2013 at 12:18

    This Romper looks like an original Lacey Lane design. Where did you get your inspiration?

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