Warm Baby Bunting for a Cold Winter's Day

Before this two week old was born, my daughter requested I make her a bear suit or baby bunting similar to one she had seen on the popular British clothing website, Zara. Unfortunately, Zara no longer had this item available.  She loved the cozy warm fabric and the way it buttoned on the side, and wanted her newborn to have something cozy to wear. But I couldn't find a pattern that looked like her photo. However, I did find this pattern:

It's McCall's #4233, but the smallest size this pattern came was for a 6 month old. After adjusting the pattern to make it look like the bunting she wanted, I also cut the pattern way down and sewed the back pieces together, held it up and realized I hadn't made it small enough.  I then searched and searched to find the measurements of a newborn: length of arms and legs and all those measurements that are so important to know when you're also guessing how big the baby is actually going to be.  I thought I was going to go insane guessing!

I eliminated the pocket because really, a newborn is not capable of putting their hands into a pocket anyway.  I lined my bunting with light purple flannel with white polka dots. For the closure, I used silver buttons that were machine washable.

This sherpa style fabric was horrible to work with if you happened to make a mistake, which I did.  I could not see the threads to unpick. Let's just say, I definitely had a few challenges to overcome when I made this bunting.

Once I got this sewn, I packed it in my suitcase and hoped my hours of sewing would pay off. By the time she was two weeks old, this little girl fit into her personalized warm winter bunting with a little room to grow.  Isn't she so cute?

After my granddaughter's indoor photo session (outside, it was around negative 1 degrees with the wind chill factor, making an outside photo not an option), she was tired.  I'm guessing she was toasty from head to toe in her outfit because she slept for a solid three hours without making a peep. Sleep tight you sweet girl.

Note: I've posted this outfit on Project Run and Play week one as part of the play along series for Winter Wonderland. xoxo Grandma