Birthday Boy Toddler Car Party Outfit

Several weeks back my little guy, Caspian Finn, turned 2 years old. We didn’t do a big 1st birthday celebration for him, so I wanted to do something special for his second birthday. This little guy is in love with cars. I never knew there were so many cars in this world until spending time with Caspian. All day long he points out cars and trucks all over the place, “car, car, car”. So the theme for his party was pretty easy to come up with…….cars. Not the movie “Cars”, just the vehicle.

But before I share some of the details of his party, I wanted to share the little birthday outfit I made for him. I honestly thought I would get more into ‘boy’ sewing after I had my little man, but there never seems to be enough hours in the day. So I was really happy to take some time and sew for Caspian.

This shorts one-piece outfit (aka Jon-Jon) was made using my Run Around Romper Pattern. The pattern comes in size 6 month through size 6 and runs a tad on the larger side. I made Caspian the 18 month and he currently wears a 18 – 24 month in commercial clothing.

I added two side pockets for Caspian for him to carry four of his hot wheel cars. He really loved having his cars right there and kept taking them in and out of the pockets.

I also added in a snap crotch because my husband said he would prefer that for easy diaper changes. The original pattern doesn’t have a snap crotch because sometimes snaps can make people nervous who are new to sewing and I wanted it to be a beginner friendly pattern. But adding in the snap crotch is a breeze. I’m happy to show you how to make that addition to the pattern, if that is something you would like to learn.

The folks at Riley Blake Designs sent over this darling fabric line called ‘Cruiser Blvd’ by Sheri McCulley. I knew it would be perfect for his party from the moment I saw it. The prints are not too babyish, the colors are great and I like the retro vibe of the cars. I always like to have a fabric as a base for the party design. It helps the color palette come together so much easier.

I wanted to add an applique to the front of the romper, so I purchased this car applique design from Planet Applique. They are my favorite digital applique site right now and their designs seem to stitch out really nicely. I sewed the front two pieces of the romper together to get it ready to applique. I simply downloaded the design to my USB flash drive and then plugged it into my Baby Lock Unity Sewing and Embroidery Machine. I don’t think I’ve told you all the details of this newer machine (remind me to do that), but it’s makes life SO easy when it comes to applique designs and embroidery. I simply loaded the design into the sewing machine via the USB flash drive and began my applique.

For the thread, I used Madiera Embroidery Thread in the following colors:

• Red: 1037
• Blue: 1132
• Black: 1241

Thread makes a big difference when it comes to sewing and embroidery and Madeira thread works beautifully every time.

I used snaps for the shoulder straps just because I was in a ‘snappy’ mood after using snaps for the crotch. Plus, I thought the yellow snaps were really casual and kind of ‘boy’ like.

I was really happy with how the outfit turned out. I showed it to Savannah and she told me it was kind of ‘girlish’, but my husband even liked it, so I knew it wasn’t too ‘girlish’ for a two year old boy. I figured this may be the last birthday I have to dress him like a baby, so I better take full advantage!

I’m looking forward to sharing the details of his party with you later this week.

This guy had enough of me taking his pictures…..here he is walking off to get his car party started!