One piece outfits!

So Charlie has outgrown all her one piece outfits. Most brands only go to 24 months or 2T. Gymboree and Land's End used to have bigger onesies and rompers, but quit carrying them. I've found some on a site based in England, but they were a little pricey and I don't even want to know how much shipping would be. So I've been on the look out for one piece outfits. I should probably explain why huh? Because Charlie doesn't sit or stand, her clothes all tend to ride up so her belly and back show. It looks uncomfortable and I don't want my 2 year old's belly hanging out! One pieces are just so much more practical for her.

So in the last post, I showed off one romper I made for her out of a t-shirt. It's ok, but there were a lot of things I didn't like about it. I didn't proportion it quite right and it looks a little funny. I'm getting better at it though.

Here's one I found at wal-mart, on clearance (I bought 2 different ones). It's nice, but there are no snaps at the crotch. I can add snaps, but I'm not sure how well that would work and still make it look decent. They are easy enough to pull up and down and since my kid only pees like twice a day, it'll work. Still, I don't love that it's sleeveless and $5 an outfit is a little much for me. I just don't spend that much on clothes. We tend to buy secondhand mostly.

Charlie's nurse brought over some of her daughter's outgrown clothes and I made onesies! and they aren't "babyish" either, which is great. I found 4T gerber onesies on amazon, but they still had the baby designs on them. So here's my little tutorial:

Pick a shirt that is several sizes too big, but not terribly wide, and nice and long (a challenge in itself with the too-short styles for girls these days):

Mark off where you want to cut, fold the shirt in half so it ends up even, and just go for it:

Use fold over elastic to bind the edges all around:

Add snaps and you are done!

Now I've learned a couple of things. 1) You can cut out the neckline and add FOE to that as well, to make it smaller. 2) You can add FOE to the arms too. This makes for a very girly "ruffled" look. And 3) The bottoms want to flare out! You can pull the elastic around the hips to bring it in a bit and you have this:

Cute huh?

I made 2 more rompers out of juniors sized shirts...a hand me down....

And Twilight! I know, I'm the biggest dork evah!

I loved the way this shirt looked and didn't want to turn it into a onesie. Instead I just fixed the neckline up so it fit her. It's long enough that it can ride up a little and still be fine. It looks adorable with leggings!

And last but not least, I won an ebay auction for $11, including shipping for 5 Lands End rompers in 4T! Here. One one hand, I can't believe I didn't have to fight anyone over those. They are hard to come by and for such a good price! But on the other hand, lots of people don't like that style. It's out of date and the newest thing is to dress toddlers like little adults, which is a whole other post for me. I want outfits that don't that show my child's diaper and belly, thank you very much!

So there you have it...a summer wardrobe for less than $25 (her shorts and skirts from last year still fit)!