Red Petal Onesie. Stitching Love.

This was the scene at my house Saturday. I woke early to get the most out of that precious quiet time when the house is still before everyone else wakes up. Stitching and reading. It makes me smile just thinking about it.

I was in progress with a onesie for a baby I know (not Anya, sorry, Jessica). I appliqued a pale yellow base - an old work shirt that I loved the color of but didn't fit me really well, and red petals from an old sweatshirt of my daughter's (also used on this project).


You can see some petals stitched and cut out and some in the process of being stitched. I stitched the petals first, then the background fabric and then embellished with more surface embroidery. I was too impatient to wait and cut everything out after it was stitched, so I stitched 3 and then cut.


And here is a shot of the finished shirt (below). You can't see, but there are green and yellow stitches on the background. Once I did those I felt the petals looked a little plain, hence the stitching there. Next time I do this shirt I'll be a little simpler with the embellishing. I wasn't entirely happy with the stitches in the petals, but it was colorful and pretty for a little girl, so I left it (plus I was running out of time).

Anyone care to leave a comment with suggestions for stitches for the petals (this is feather stitch)? I have another onesie and am thinking of doing this design again.

I might go super simple and ditch the yellow background next time around. I don't think it added that much to the overall design. I can't wait to see it on it's new owner ... it's a little big still, though.

I'm also thinking of making my own baby t-shirt pattern up instead of using bought onesies to give myself more flexibility in the design. Working around the pattern already on the shirt was a pain in the butt. They'd be fairly quick to sew up due to the small size and could probably be made from one large adult t-shirt. I could see making a tonne of these once I've got the pattern right.