Double Wax Print Impulse Sewing (based on free tutorials - Made by Rae Baby Sunsuit, Oliver + S Lazy Days Skirt)

The impulse sewing bug strikes again! We were at my mom's house in Massachusetts this weekend and I wandered into her sewing room looking for a darning needle for my Hetty cardigan. Her fabric stash was sitting right there, so I just decided to look through it, out of you know, curiosity. And I saw this wax print fabric and I thought "Why don't I make Z and her baby cousin R some simple matching elastic-waist skirts?" So I did.

And then after the kids were in bed I saw my mom had some elastic thread and I thought "Why don't I make matching shirred tops?"

Presto! Instant matching wax print cuteness.

Of course, by the time I had both outfits ready for a photo shoot, six-month-old Baby R had fallen asleep for a nap. So I mostly got photos of Z running around in her new favorite outfit (plus a matching headband my mom threw together with her heavy-duty snap attaching machine):

The basics

Pattern: I used two free tutorials I'd been eyeing for a while — the Made by Rae Baby Sunsuit (to make the shirred tops—I just left off the bottom part) and the Oliver + S Lazy Days skirt. Both are just constructed from simple rectangles — the skirt is a full width of fabric gathered by an elastic waistband and trimmed with a ribbon hem, and the top is a rectangle with some elastic shirring and straps.

Fabric: "Veritable" Dutch wax print cotton borrowed from my mom's stash. She got it from my beloved Sew-Fisticated Discount Fabrics in Boston (see my review).

Size: I just went by the girls' waist measurements, and made the tops and skirts a bit long on them so they could wear for a while yet.

I remember the first time I realized it was possible to make simple items like skirts without (gasp!) an actual pattern—that many garments were nothing but rectangles or circles gathered up in different ways. At the time I went a little crazy and sewed like, six elastic-waist full skirts before I realized it wasn't always the most flattering look for me. But it works really well on these little girls!

Instructions: Both tutorials/patterns had excellent, clear, detailed instructions.

Construction notes: I added two extra rows of shirring on Z's top since she is so much bigger than R. And I added extra snaps to make the tops adjustable.

My favorite details are the ribbon hems...

(Can you believe the cuteness of those toes? GAH!)

And the purple snaps:

The stripes on this fabric are not even vaguely on-grain, so there's a bit of a jumbled tilted effect, especially in back:

All in all, an impulse sewing win!

A perfect outfit for running around and playing all summer long:

And for snuggling with cousins, of course:

Sewing doesn't always have to be complicated. Even simple shapes can look awesome in a bright, fun fabric and with the right details. (Cute models don't hurt, either.)

So: Do you ever make simple garments from rectangles or sew from tutorials? Or are you all about using actual pattern pieces?