The shorts and a shirt are done for Robert Charles. This is the third and final (almost) coordinated Easter outfits for my three grandchildren. The yellow baby cord shorts match the bubble made for his cousin Alastair and the shirt has a hatchling duck which appears to be approximately the same age as the ducklings in the handloom used on his sister’s and cousin’s outfits.
Giving some thought to Robert’s obsession with Super Heroes at age “faw an a haf,” I thought perhaps a waterfowl with a little more maturity was in order. OESD’s Dreams of Childhood collection has a spunky ducky dunking, with feet and tail in the air, head apparently underwater. I thought that would appeal to his age-appropriate compunction to giggle and point out every “butt” he sees, from the dog to the cherub garden statuary. But this more juvenile design would still maintain the Spirit of Spring theme projected by the infantile ducklings.
Eager to allow Robert to participate in the design process, I gave him the option of the dunking duck and one from Viking’s Sweet Lullaby collection by Deb Strain. To my surprise, he chose Deb Strain’s hatchling with a bow around its neck. It seems that on that particular day he was just a little boy wanting to blend in with the crowd.
I’m probably going to embroider a different shirt for him. This one is sloppy big on him. I was unable to locate a size 4 white golf shirt so resorted to this sz. 5-6. But it is a lot closer to 6 than Robert is to 5. Today I did find a nice plain white broadcloth dress shirt that I am going to embroider for him.
I went out on a limb with the shorts. He is such a lean little guy that I wanted something more fitted than the fully gathered boxer style pattern. When he wears such shorts, you see nothing but knees and stick skinny legs. Instead, I used an old button-on suit pattern, cutting out the pants without the side vent extensions, meant to support buttons and buttonholes. The side seams are curved rather than straight and there is very little fullness. I added 1″ to the top of the pattern for a casing.
Alastair, 12 months, headed off the growth chart
The pants are lined with white Imperial batiste and sewed up just like the Jon-Jon pattern in Martha’s Favorite Applique book. It took less than an hour to make them, and that included hand sewing the 3″ opening for turning them right side out and edge stitching the legs and casing top. They fit him beautifully. Whoever came up with that technique deserves a Sewing Medal of Honor.
Now I’m off to embroider the dress shirt. I haven’t decided which design to use. By the time the baby duck shirt fits him, he will be 7 or 8 and likely unwilling to wear it. I’ll just pack it away in the nursery. Alastair is a little tank and will fit in this shirt long before he is faw an a haf.
