Baby In The Hood

I had a minor freak out the other day when I realize that C is now ten months old and possibly out-growing the size range of some of the patterns that I have loved for years but have never gotten around to making.  So imagine my relief when I broke open my copy of Anna Maria Horner's Handmade Beginnings the other day and discovered that her pattern for the Baby In the Hood Jacket goes up to size 18 to 24 months.  Whew!

Elastic around the hood? Possibly the most ingenious thing ever!

There are so many great things about Anna Maria's patterns, but one of the best is that her love of fabrics comes through in every pattern that she writes.  Fortunately, I was able to dig through the stash and find two fabrics that go well together and which I had just enough of (and I do mean just enough of...it was a close call on this one).  On a side note, have I mentioned that I'm trying to control the fabric buying until the Sewing and Stitchery Expo comes to town?  Oh yes I am. 

Okay, back to this little jacket.  The main fabric is an Amy Butler fabric that is left over from the back of this quilt and the contrasting fabric...well, I have no idea what it is (aren't I the best blogger ever?) but it's left over from some quilting project that I'm pretty sure that I never got around to finishing (oops).  As for the lining, I knew that I wanted something a bit warmer than regular quilting cotton but I also wanted it to be washable so I settled on cotton flannel.  Originally I was going to head out to my local quilt store to check out their limited flannel options but then I realized that I had approximately fifteen flannel swaddle blankets that made for the girls when they were babies that I no longer had any use for, so I found one that coordinated well with the outer fabrics and I chopped that sucker up.  Problem solved.

I have to say that I was a bit worried that the nine to twelve months size was going to be a bit on the small size for C given that she is a chunky-monkey but in the end it turned out to be the perfect size.  It fits her perfectly right now, but it's also big enough that it should fit her for the next couple of months which is fantastic because she needs a little coat to take her through the spring and the only other coat that we have for her is a huge puffy coat that:

1) doesn't work with car seats
2) is so puffy that it literally doesn't allow her to move
3) makes her look like a giant red Stay Puff Marshmallow Man

Needless to say, she very much appreciates the fact that she can actually move in this coat.  No doubt if she could talk she would say "Thanks, Mom.  It's about freaking time."