Heatwave-Ready in a Retro Romper

Last week we had a lovely heatwave. As you may recall, The Peanut and I melt into cranky piles of goo at anything over 72°. It was well over 90°, nearing 100°. It was time to break out the Summer-with-a-capital-S clothes.

...and it was time to stay inside with the air conditioning for photo shoots.

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I've had this pattern and fabric in a project bag (an oh-so-sexy gallon ziplock, that is) since well before my epic Harry Potter project. I actually planned to whip it up quickly in between Potter-ish items. When that failed to happen, it fell down the ToDo project list. But not too far down.

The Peanut has been very into our photo albums lately, including a scrap book I compiled in sixth(?), maybe seventh(?), grade with pics of me and my family during the 11ish years I was alive to date. As she pours over the images of her aunts, uncle and me as kids, I've been drawn in by our fashions.

I was sure this was a pic of me in an orangey-floral print romper. I know I had one. The goat would like to point out that this is not it.

I don't really remember the trip in this photo but I do remember wearing rompers, if not this one, rompers very much like it. I was worried my Peanut was already too long, too old for a retro romper. But I had to give it a go anyway. I was bolstered by the fact that there are romper patterns available in her size.

This Pleated Playsuit pattern from E&E Designs has the bonus of not only being available in her size, but also of being free (my favorite price range, thankyouverymuch).

I matched the shoulder ties and the pocket lining for tiny pop of darker orange.

The fabric is off another poorly labelled bolt at my stones-throw WalMart. I liked the weight and citrus print, and the texture/fabric also reminded me of nightgowns I had as a child (those baby-doll nighties kids were wearing at the same time as the rompers). Not knowing how to label this fabric for the purposes of this post, I crowd sourced my "what is this" question across Instagram, Facebook, and Flickr. The resounding response was seersucker. I'll admit that surprised me. I thought true seersucker, like a true gingham, was dependent on the stripes formed by the dyed yarns. There are no such stripes (or dyes) here. I have now moved Dana Willard's Fabrics A-to-Z: The Essential Guide to Choosing and Using Fabric for Sewing [Amazon affiliate link] to the top of my Amazon wishlist.

The more I blog the more I learn I need to learn.

The pleat down the center front is a lovely detail included in the free pattern.

Oh those bruised legs! Happy summer.

Pattern

Pleated Playsuit from E&E Patterns, size 4-5

Fabric

Another mislabeled WalMart bolt of a Cirtuis-Print Seersucker (I think?), with a solid orange quilting cotton as contrast

Love

Who doesn't love dressing their kid in the styles they wore as a kid? Plus it also reminds me of a big girl version of the sun-suits she wore as a baby; I think it's the one-piece nature of the garment coupled with that center pleat.

Note

Be careful not to sew the edge of one of the ties into the seam when attaching the facing, not that I would know anything about that...

BUT WAIT! You'll never guess what happened next.

I let The Peanut wear this last week and shared a pic on Instagram as part of Made for Kids Month, then Stephanie of Swoodson Says asked if I linked up with Romper Week on Sewing Mama RaeAnna. It was the first I heard of Romper Week. Did you follow that? I happened to coincidentally sew a romper right in the midst of a Romper Week. Naturally I linked up. And now there are prizes to be won! So, Dear Reader, kindly click below and...

VOTE FOR ME!  

Scroll down the page and find Pic #23 of The Peanut in her citrus print romper, then click on the heart in the upper corner of the image. Heads up, you'll only be allowed one heart-click per computer. Thanks so much in advance!

Ren Murphy writes for The Inspired Wren.

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You should really see all that goes into each project!

Be sure to follow along daily as The Peanut dresses in handmade clothes for #madeforkidsmonth. Updates on Instagram (and Flickr) of works-in-progress will give you that behind the scenes view you’re looking for, and sneak peeks of First Tuesday Tutorials, too.

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