Good Things Come in Small Packages

On the 4th of July, dear friends of ours had a very special package arrive... their little girl! Weighing in at just under 6 pounds, she was the tiniest little bundle of sweetness! Suddenly, I was looking through the old baby girl patterns from 10 years ago, digging through my fabric boxes for pink floral cottons.

While at Haberman's getting fabric for a different project (the search for the perfect shade of yellow!), I found this lovely pink and while floral cotton. The local quilt shop had the perfect solid shade of pink to pair with it, too. Now, I needed a pattern!

Baby Girl is still so tiny though... even the newborn sized clothing she has is too big! What to do, what to do... and then I had an idea. I asked my friend, "How long is she now?" and she answered, "About 20 inches." Perfect.

This lovely pattern was in a big box of vintage patterns that I bought from a friend a few years ago. Simplicity 4723 is described as a "baby doll layette" for 20" dolls like "Thumbelina, Baby Dear, Tiny Talker". Although it's not marked, I'm pretty certain this pattern is from about 1962 or '63.

I made 3 pieces: The sleeveless dress ("slip"), the jacket ("sacque"), and panties. I made lots of bias tape from my left over fabric, to trim the jacket and finish the armholes and neckline. I folded and gathered a little ruffle to add to the dress, and 1 single yard of pink satin ribbon made 4 little bows to embellish with.  I found a vintage card of snaps in my notions drawer, with just 3 snaps remaining, so I used those at each shoulder for closures.

All in all, I'm really happy with the look of the set, and I think it's very sweet. I enjoyed making it much more than I thought I would, having never made such a small baby dress before! I could hear my mother in my ear saying, "The bonnet! That baby needs a bonnet!", but she's more of a "headband" girl. Sorry, Mom!