Sporty Spice

Is it weird that I find it endlessly amusing to see how one project inspires another and then that project inspires another and then so on and so on?  If so, please feel free to skip the long diatribe on all of the projects that have led me to this one.

First there was this top made out of sweatshirt fabric which had me day-dreaming about making teeny-tiny baby sweatsuits.  And then there was this cycling jersey which taught me how to insert a half-zip and had me thinking about how practical one would be on kid's clothes.  And then there was this dress that introduced me to the joys of flat-piping and had me thinking about sticking it in just about every seam that I sew.  Put those three things together (and throw in a bit of a ridiculously soft knit left over from this top) and - ta-da! - you have a little kid's warm-up suit.

For the top I used Rae's Flashback Tee pattern for the basic shape, but I added a band at the bottom and a four inch zipper on the front.  I probably should have taken a bit of length off of the top to make up for the added length that the band provides, but seeing how quickly O is growing nowadays, I predict that in about a week this top will fit her perfectly.  As for the collar, I kind of just made it up as I went along and fortunately knits are very forgiving so my improv sewing techniques seem to have (mostly) worked out okay.

For the pants I cut out a size 4T in Oliver and S's Nature Walk Pants and the only modification that I made was to add a band of red cotton/lycra knit fabric between the legs and the yoke to coordinate with the red zipper on the top.  Truth be told, my band started out much wider but it wouldn't lay flat so I ended up making it smaller so that it just peeks out of the seam a tiny bit.  Ain't that snazzy!

But here's the difference between me and my oldest child.  I look at this and think "ooh, that looks so comfy.  I could wear that all day and be perfectly happy."  Whereas she looked at this little outfit and screamed, "I don't want to wear it!  I hate the color gray!"

So, yes, I totally bribed my child to take these pictures.  Don't pretend like you haven't done the same.