Alastair’s Hurry-up Easter Suit

I know this outfit is crooked on the hanger. There was a stiff breeze blowing and I could not keep the shirt hanging properly.

We always talk about how busy we are, but I have never let other things make me cut it so close with Easter outfits for the grandchildren.  Just like when my children were small, I was up until after midnight Saturday before Easter.

But I finished all four outfits.

Alastair’s Easter suit was a very satisfying project.  Like few hurry-up projects, it finished up quite nicely, leaving me  generally pleased.   I learned that sometimes surrendering my picky-ness for a rush project is okay.  It is more important to have an  OK outfit done for Easter than an up- to-my-picky-standards outfit done a week later.  This was made in about a day and a half, and those were busy days aside from sewing.

One of my favorite big boy patterns, Hudson’s Sunday Suit by Ginger Snaps Designs is made up in an almost suit weight linen and trimmed with Swiss insertion, pale blue entredeux, and blue perle cotton.  The shorts are made from  quick and easy Children’s Corner Jackson, my go-to shorts pattern.  Blue pinfeather cord is the fabric used. Pale blue vintage MOP buttons close the shirt in the back.

The C monogram is from the Martha Pullen IEC alphabet for 2002.

 NOTE:  Erin asked about the embellishment under the C.  It is from an old Viking collection, Crown I,  set 1300, design orna5.  Some of the detail was edited out to simplify the design.  This is the original design. 

The shirt is a heavy linen which worked especially well for my short time frame.  It was too heavy for a nice French seam, so the seams were serged.  Though I normally would have done the hem and back facing by hand, instead they were first serged and then machine stitched in place.   As it turned out, I found  this to be less offensive than expected.  The fine thread seemed to melt into the thicker linen. The pants will be re-hemmed by hand as soon as I get my hands on them again and I might as well do the shirt hem at the same time.

Blue entredeux was inserted into the collar and along the sleeve cuffs.   The plan was to work a tiny crocheted edge through the entredeux holes, but that didn’t work out.  There was nothing in my stash that was both the right color and the right weight for that to happen.  So, rushed as I was, the only solution I could come up with was to work a buttonhole stitch through those holes with #8 perle cotton.

Not only did  that take a long time, but it took a surprisingly huge amount of perle cotton.   I threaded my tapestry needle with what looked like miles of perle cotton and started at the back, where I always prefer to start so I can adjust my tension, etc. in a less conspicuous spot.

But YIKES!  I ran out of perle cotton about an inch from the center front of the collar.  Ugh….So the where I had to start with a new length of perle cotton is pretty obvious right there.  After all those buttonhole stitches, the blue entredeux is almost lost, but the holes served a purpose.

By the time I got to the sleeves, I was determined not to run out of perle cotton.  The cuff measured 12″ so I cut 90″.  When I finished, there were no more than 12″ left over!  From now on, I will calculate 7x the length needed for this treatment.

The sleeves were inserted with blue entredeux which I thought was a nice detail.  In my rush, it wasn’t a perfect job–note the area where the fabric of the entredeux shows.  But again, it was worth it to have the outfit done in time for Easter.

In the sleeve insertion directions, there is a suggestion to make a pleat at the shoulder seam if you have trouble making gathers.  I don’t have trouble with that, but as the clock kept ticking, I thought that would be quicker than running 3 rows of gathering stitches, distributing them, etc.  It was very quick.

sleeve pleat in place of gathers

Alastair’s mother is having portraits taken of Alastair and baby Vivian Rose in their Easter finery.  I can’t wait to see them.

Though I didn’t get the Easter Sunday photos I wanted, I did get this shot of the children. After a big holiday dinner, no one ever wants dessert right away.  Saturday, I had the bunny cake baked but didn’t have time to frost it.  So between dinner, play time and dessert, they helped me decorate the cake.

There was no time to make dark frosting for the whiskers so we used stems from the parsley in my herb garden.  Green whiskers!  That tickled them.

They loved working with a pastry bag.  And they really loved eating “their” cake.