A "Bubble" Full of Cherries!

Oh I love sunsuits, or as we call them in our house, Bubbles! When I ran across this cute bubble tutorial on Made by Rae, I knew it was something I had to make. After all, it was a cute little romper AND it used a shirring technique with elastic thread that I was interested in trying.

I had actually bought some cute cherry fabric earlier this spring to make a different romper, but never got around to it. So, I followed Rae's directions to the letter and...

It didn't fit right. Not even close.

Sigh....

I have a long and skinny girl and the romper ended up being too short and way too loose and don't even get me started on how strangely the crotch and leg openings fit her. Now, LA does not have a typical 16 month old's chunky thighs and belly, so I don't blame Rae's pattern for the issues. In fact, I am going to pass it along to another baby that has a little more bulk than LA--maybe it might fit her!

Ok, back the story. I was determined to make a bubble romper. Luckily, I had more than enough fabric left over to give it another try. This time, however, I morphed the Rae pattern with ideas from other rompers LA already has. Instead of making the arch inseam as Rae did, I used this shape.

I created a casing around each leg opening so that I could use elastic instead of shirring (since the shirring did not close the leg opening enough for LA's skinny legs). For the shirring around the chest, I spaced the rows approximately 1/4" apart and did 10 rows (give or take).

Instead of snaps, I did a button closure (but only because I was finishing it up at 11:30 pm and did not have any more snaps on hand). For the straps, I secured two lengths of ribbon. Originally, I made them so they would tie on her shoulders. Then I discovered 2 problems:

1. Have you ever tried to tie straps on a wiggly toddler?
2. About 1 minute after they were tied, LA "discovered" them and began to UNTIE them and chew the ribbon.

In the end, this romper took WAY more time than it ever should have, but I did discover and learn several things and know what I will do differently the next time I make one.I must say, on a side note, my model is becoming increasingly more difficult to work with. I think she might be turning into a bit of a diva. Apparently she doesn't "do" grass!
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