Today I’m excited to share the Josie Mae Bonnet that I created from one of my current favorite fabric lines, Farm Girl by October Afternoon for Riley Blake Designs. I can’t get enough of this line, every single print is just precious and perfect for so many different projects. I pretty much have all the prints from the collection (if you remember my On the Cutting Table post from last week). I was just telling my mom that I love everything that October Afternoon creates when it comes to fabrics. Their designs are classic, but are always so well suited for children’s clothing and projects. There is just something about their design aesthetic that makes my heart go pitter-patter.
Josie Mae Bonnet
I have a DARLING dress cut for Miss Josephine’s Easter Dress. I was hoping to have the dress all ready to go to share with the bonnet, but it just didn’t happen. I’m in St. Louis this week filming more Lessons with Lindsay (my free online video sewing series) at Baby Lock headquarters (my wonderful machine sewing machine sponsor). So because of all the prep that goes into filming 10 episodes, I’m glad to at least have the bonnet completed!
So here is my completed Josie Mae Bonnet. I absolutely adore this pattern (found here). I’m not kidding when I say this is a super quick-sew. The longest part of the process is sewing on the buttons. Even with the piping, it’ll take you an hour (aside from the buttons). I love, love, love baby girls in bonnets. I figure they are only little once, so we need to live it up dressing them like little ones. Bonnets always make a wonderful baby shower gift!
Josephine is our 4th child and she is pure sweetness. Of course, the day before I wanted to take her picture in this bonnet, she fell down and busted her lip. Poor baby. I guess she didn’t realize she had a modeling gig booked (just kidding). She’s walking now, but with walking, comes a lot of falling. I thought about not photographing the bonnet on her, but then I figured you all might miss seeing these sweet cheeks in this bonnet. The cuteness factor of a bonnet actually ON a baby is just through the roof.
I used one of the small florals from Farm Girl. It comes in three color ways……. blue, pink and white. I wanted this bonnet to coordinate with the dress she’ll be wearing for Easter, but I also wanted it to coordinate with some other things in her closet. She wears quite a bit of pink, so I stuck with the fabric that had the pink background. One of the things I love about the Josie Mae Bonnet Pattern is that you can line the back of the bonnet with an entirely different fabric and button it on the opposite way. Then you get two looks in one! Don’t you love reversible things? I actually didn’t do that this time, but next time I’ll be making a reversible one.
I had these pinkish-red buttons in my stash and they coordinate perfectly! They have a little design on them that give them a vintage feel. I made sure to sew these buttons on super strong because anytime I put something on a baby with buttons, I DO NOT want them coming off!
As for the piping, I considered using a solid white and then I thought about using a soft pink whip-stitch piping, but ultimately I decided to pull out the pinkish-red from the buttons and in the coordinating tie fabric. I love being able to add in another pattern into the mix whenever possible. I just think it adds extra interest that you don’t get from a solid fabric (though there are certainly times where a solid is the best choice).
Our weather in Chicago finally warmed up enough to take a few pictures outside on our front porch. I’m looking forward to sharing Miss JoJo’s Easter dress with you all. It is going to look absolutely perfect with this sweet bonnet!
If you want to check out the Josie Mae Bonnet Pattern, you can see it HERE. And to see the ‘Farm Girl‘ fabric line, click HERE.
Until next time……..
Happy Sewing!
Lindsay Wilkes is the owner and designer behind The Cottage Mama. She creates timeless, vintage inspired sewing patterns for children’s clothes. She is also a fabric designer for Riley Black Designers / Penny Rose Fabrics, author of the book ‘Sew Classic Clothes for Girls’ and can be seen teaching nationwide and online in her video series ‘Lessons with Lindsay’ sponsored by Baby Lock Sewing and Embroidery machines.
