Classic Baby Kimono

Baby kimonos have been around forever but have been eclipsed in popularity by the one-piece sleeper.  But when Laurel was born, those knit sleepers were always second choice.  This kimono was in use every night that it was laundered and available.

 The night time routine was for her father to get up, change her diaper, and then carry his baby girl to her mother to be nursed.  After one frustrating night spent trying to line up the snaps on the sleeper, my son discovered the 2-tie kimono and certified it as daddy-friendly baby nightwear.

Feather stitch is worked with floche.

This kimono and Lezette Thomason’s Bunny’s Knit Nightie (Children’s Corner patterns) were his bedtime garments of choice for Laurel. 

 So, the kimono might be described as an old fashioned project for old fashioned Nanas.

The hemstitch holes are in flannel. The "reach" stitch is into lace tape.

With a luscious flesh/peachy colored cotton flannel, closely matched peach double sided ribbon, and a delicate but intricate 1/4″ ecru lace edging, I was ready to begin.   Note:  With time, the ribbon has yellowed.  Oh well.

Lace tape zig zagged to baby lace is drawn up with the lace tape gathering thread to form the rosettes. French knots and lazy daisy stitches fill the centers.

It took no time at all to realize that hemstitching would eat up most of that sweet little edging.  The bite of the wing needle into the flannel left a pleasing round hole.  But the bite into the lace left a few lace threads. My solution was to tiny zig zag the narrow lace to ecru lace tape and THEN pin stitch the joined pieces to the peach flannel.

I had a lace rosette planned to cover the stitching which joined the ribbon ties to the gown.  Again, the narrow lace thwarted my plan. The drawn up lace looked like a wannbe pompom that would never be more than a baby’s breath bud.   Again, by joining the lace to lace tape, I got a satisfactory rosette.  The center was embellished with tiny French knots and lazy daisy leaves.

At this point, I was relatively pleased with the results.  But Judith Dobson, my roommate at one of the schools where we both were teaching, said the kimono “cried out for feather stitching.”  She stitched the corners in ecru floche and instructed me on some of the finer points of feather stitch so I could finish.

I did finish and then the kimono was finally finished.

Lace tape/baby lace band is gathered at the neck before being pin stitched down.

This garment has endured some very heavy laundering,  having been worn several times a week until Laurel outgrew it.  Of course, she came into this world weighing 10 lbs. so the gown did not fit as long as it would have for a normal size baby.  Still, it endured a lot of wear and tear.

Now it is packed away, folded and lying in wait for Rebecca’s advance-scheduled daughter. I hope that wait is not too long.