Tag Archives: free patterns

Sewing for babies: some free patterns

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A new baby is born into our family! Hey, I’m a great-aunt now and it fills me with joy. To welcome this little boy I just had to sew some clothes for him. I sewed for my own children when they were babies but this was 30 years ago and I no longer have these patterns. So I went to Mrs. Google and I found some cute free baby sewing patterns. Which I sewed immediately after I went to the fabric store for some fun fabric.

free baby sewing patterns

 

Oliver Pants

free baby sewing patterns

The Oliver Pants is a free baby-pants pattern designed by Griet and Annick. Both are outstanding sewists with young children, hence this pattern is eminently tested!
The joy of sewing for babies is that the patterns are small. You only have to tape together two pieces of the pdf-pattern. The pattern and the instructions for the Oliver Pants are in Dutch but that should not be a problem for non-Dutch speakers as the instructions are illustrated with clear pictures.
I sewed the pants in a light sweater knit from QjuTie Kids and it came together easily. One thing you have to consider though is to enlarge the border pieces for the cuffs and the waistband, depending on the stretch % of the fabric you use.
This pattern is also great for using up your fabric scraps.

Long sleeve with envelope neckline

free baby sewing patterns

I love envelope necklines. Not only for babies but also for myself. That’s why the Bronte Top has been on my sewing list for ages. I really should sew one soon, but the baby came first.
This long sleeve with envelope neckline is a free pattern from ‘De Dromenfabriek’, (Small Dreamfactory). This is also a Dutch pattern, but again the instructions are illustrated with clear designs and they are generally easy to follow. For the neckline though, I found the instructions from Oon more enlightening.
The fabric, from QjuTie Kids, is a light sweater knit with adorable animals wearing copper cat-eye glasses and masks. I loved it at first sight.

Mare Sweater

free baby sewing patterns

This is also a free pattern from a sewist, Spoetniksels, who designed it for her own baby daughter. This sweater has a button closure on the shoulder. A plus for this pattern is that the pdf is layered so you have only the lines of the size you want on the pattern. Again this is a Dutch pattern and again the instructions are illustrated with clear pictures. Just like the other garments, I sewed it totally on the serger. The fabric is a soft French Terry from the See You at Six fabric collection.

Teeny Beanie – Patterns for Pirates

Only a few weeks ago Patterns for Pirates launched four new free baby patterns and one of them is this cute Teeny Beanie.  It comes in different styles like with little bear ears and a knot but I opted for the plain beany. The pdf-pattern is layered and has clear step by step instructions. It makes sewing this beanie easy and quick. I added a lining to cover the inside seams. This beanie is also an ideal stash buster project.

Conclusion

I loved sewing all these little baby garments. They are all sewed with knit fabric and easily put together. I sewed each one on the serger. That makes them all easy and quick projects that give you instant gratification. And aren’t all these little garments sweet?
Will I sew more baby clothes? For sure, and I already did, because there are more babies announced in our family.

1 free pattern from So Sew Easy gives 2 new sweaters

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Free patterns
For me, one of the perks of the online sewing community is free pdf patterns. I discovered them when I restarted sewing after a hiatus of nearly 20 years—they didn’t exist in the eighties and the nineties.  In fact, the first dress I sewed in 2013 was the Eva Dress and this was a free pdf pattern from Your Style Rocks.

The Eva Dress from Your Style Rocks—a free pattern

So, mid-December 2016, when So Sew Easy announced “The Easy sweater pattern for non-knitters: Let’s call her Cami” this model immediately caught my attention because I love raglan sleeves and it was a free pattern. Also, it looked like an easy sew and I needed that because my sewing mojo was really low at that time.

Camy Sweater from Sew So Easy

You get the pattern through a link on the site of So Sew Easy that leads to Craftsy where you can download it for free.
The pattern consists of 28 pages to print and it has a very clear layout. On the site you find detailed instructions and a tutorial with photos. I had not any difficulties putting it together.

I traced size 16 following my waist measurements. Being a tall girl, I lengthened the body at the hem with 6 cm.
The fabric I used is a loosely woven, lightweight rust-coloured tricot that I bought at The Stoffenspektakel last Spring.

What I really like about this pattern are the inserts between the bodice and the sleeves. They give you the opportunity to use some contrasting fabric or ribbon to spice up the classic raglan model. I used vintage ribbon that I found at Nahkontor in Berlin. This was a little bit smaller than the inserts so I stitched it on top of the fabric.Nahkontor in Berlin. This was a little bit smaller than the inserts so I stitched it on top of the fabric.

Second sweater
And it was a quick sew so I immediately sewed one for my daughter too. I had some grey knit in my stash that was very suitable but in fact a little too small. But it was a 4-way knit, so I cut the sleeves cross-grain. Here, for the inserts I used black jersey, leftovers from a sweater I sewed for her a few years ago.

Do you often use free patterns?