Polka Dot Baby, in Progress

Sewing for babies--especially not-yet-born ones like mine!--is SO relaxing. It requires very little fabric (great for scraps!) and all the pattern pieces fit easily on the smallest of rotary cutting mats. Best of all, there are NO FITTING ISSUES. Anything I make now, she'll be able to wear at some point! She gives me a good kick every few minutes just to say hello, but is otherwise very relaxed.

So lately when I get frustrated with an adult-sized project and find myself cursing over 6" FBAs and 22" tummy adjustments I take a break and make something tiny.

I was hoping to share some photos today of the three almost-complete little dresses/outfits I've been making for Cartoonist Baby, but my mother's sewing machine was feeling cranky last night. For now I can show you the flats and fabric.

The pattern is Simplicity 3765, and it's remarkably similar to my just-completed maternity dress--it has a tie belt, contrast front bands, and gathered skirt. But hopefully my color choices keep it out of "Mommy and Me" territory! I'm making view A (the dress) and B and C (the tunic/pants combo).

Dress no. 1 will be turquoise polka dot with self-fabric belt/bands:

Dress no. 2 will be in this Jonathan-Adler-esque turquoise and brown cotton. Turns out it's hopelessly offgrain, but I'm hoping the brown contrast bands and belt will help downplay that:

No. 3 isn't a dress, but a tunic/pants combo--a shorter version of the dress. The top will be this green floral, with purple contrast, and the pants are just plain purple:

And yes, I do obsessively keep track of nearly every tiny piece of fabric in my stash in Flickr. When I switched my focus back from knitting to sewing I found I missed Ravelry's stash display function, so I've got them organized by cool wovens, warm wovens, cool knits and warm knits. Sometimes I play them as guilt-inducing slideshows. I'll probably do a separate post about this later this week!