Knit Leggings and Dress for Josie

Today marks my spot on the Riley Blake Designs Knit Love Blog Tour! I love sewing with all of Riley Blake Design’s fabrics……..so many of them are perfect for children’s clothing. They have a beautiful line of knit fabric that is such great quality (and if you’ve tried sewing with poor quality knit, you know that this is huge). The stretch is fantastic for things like leggings, yet it’s soft and sweet and perfect for babies. I decide it was time for my little Josie Mae to get her first official Cottage Mama outfit, so I made her a pair of knit leggings and dress from ‘Roots and Wings‘ by Deena Rutter as well as a few coordinating solids.

Can you believe that my little pumpkin is five months old already!?!? Please tell me how that happened. She is just the most precious little girl. Such a happy and joyful spirit.

I used my Maisie Skirt and Leggings pattern to make these sweet little leggings. Josephine isn’t quite in the six month size for the length, but she definitely fits in the waist, so they are a touch long but I wanted them to last a little longer. We all know how fast these babies grow! My favorite part of this leggings pattern is that is has a yoga waistband, which means no elastic! It’s so nice and comfy around Josie’s little belly. The leggings can be made with or without the ruffle at the bottom. The pattern has a side leg placket that I really adore; however, I decided not to include it on this baby version since it’s finished with buttons and buttons and babies always make me a bit nervous.

The Maisie Leggings are a wonderful pattern for people wanting to start sewing with knits. They really are so easy to construct and take no time at all. If you’re wanting to give knits a try, I highly recommend this pattern……..I know I’m a little bias, but I once feared knits as well and I wouldn’t steer your wrong.

For the top, I took a basic peasant dress pattern and adapted it a bit more for knits. Instead of using elastic around the arms, I cut a band of knit fabric smaller than the width of the sleeve and stretched the band as I sewed it to the edge of the sleeve. This added a nice puff sleeve to the dress. Having a fabric with really great stretch makes this possible……..a knit fabric such as interlock wouldn’t work so well for that type of application. Also, to mirror the sleeve band, I added a band of coordinating solid knit to the bottom hem of the dress. The great thing about this was that meant I didn’t have to hem the bottom of the dress – yay! The neckline is sewn just like a traditional peasant dress with elastic threaded through the neck casing.

Look at this little pumpkin. It takes all my will-power each day, not to want to just eat her up!

For the headband, I just twisted together two scraps of the floral and solid knit fabric and tied it in a knot on top of Miss Josephine’s head. No sewing needed!

This little sweetie was mesmerized by her fun, floral outfit. She just kept puling up her dress and trying to stare at the fabric. I think she loved it! Even my husband commented about how soft and comfy this new outfit was for Josie. And if your husband is like mine, it takes a lot for him to comment about the fabric and feel of something I’ve made. I’ve made a few other things for my older girls out of Riley Blake Designs knit fabric and it washes really well. I will say that you should always, always, always wash your knits before sewing with them since they do tend to shrink with the first wash.

Our little Josie is getting awfully wiggly lately acting like she wants to keep up with her brother and sisters……….bet she’s on the move before we know it! I had a lot of fun creating this outfit for this little miss. I see lots more sewing for Josie Mae in the future!

Happy Sewing!