A New Little Car Romper -- Recreating a Romper

Recreating the Original

When I was pregnant with Daniel, my now big 3-year-old, I was at a little local baby boutique with my mama and fell in love with this little romper! I just thought it was super cute, and really loved it.  My great aunt, my Aunt Faye, knew I loved it and had my mama go back and get it for me. It was so special to me, and we used it for pictures of Daniel. Daniel was born in December, and the romper was made with corduroy fabric, so it was made for cooler weather. 

Well, Luke was born in April, and a size 3 month was fitting him in like May or June, so it didn't even occur to me to get the romper out. When my sister's baby was born, we started pulling out all of Daniel's clothes, because he was going to fit into Daniel's seasonal things that Luke couldn't wear. I was really kicking myself for not using a few of those outfits, at least for pictures only. Why didn't it occur to us to use them for pictures only? 

Then, when I saw the picture of my sweet little nephew wearing this cute car romper, I got a little sad because Luke was going to be the only one who wasn't going to have his picture made in this little outfit purchased by my Aunt Faye. So I got to thinking, wondering if I could recreate it? 

My Version on the left, the original on the right

Y'all and here is my cute little nephew modeling the original! 😍😍

Choosing the pattern 

I had another pattern that did more closely resemble the original romper. The romper has a middle seam and is your basic Jon Jon. The only problem was that I have not made this romper in a few months, and didn't really know how Luke's current size was going to fit. I was planning to put in too much work on this to have a romper that I wasn't 100% happy with.  

So, although it's a tad different, I chose to go with the Mamma Can Do It Reversible Overalls. I made a pair of these for Luke a few weeks ago to help promote a few patterns for this company for her "Winter Tour" (basically she is putting a few different patterns on sale every week for several weeks). But since I already made a pair of these, I knew I loved them. I liked sewing them, I love the way they fit in the current size, and I felt confident that if I used this pattern, I would be happy with my finished romper! 

This was the first time I tried this pattern! 

Choosing the Fabrics 

So I went to Joann's fully planning to get just regular 100% Kona Cotton, because I knew that there was like a 0% chance that I would find the corduroy to match the original. I have rarely found corduroy when I wanted it, so I really didn't think they would have it, but I decided that regular Kona cotton would be close enough.  

I also have some blue jeans planned for the boys, so I was on the aisle with the denim, and to my surprise, on the bottom shelf was a little bolt with light blue corduroy! It's like this project was MEANT TO BE! I grabbed it and very excitedly took it to the cutting counter.  

Making the Car 

So, I didn't even bother looking for a machine applique design for the car. I figured it was pointless to look, because I wanted it to match as closely as possible. I decided to make my own applique.  

I traced the car onto my fusible webbing and used the method I described in my first blog post, if you're interested 😉 http://custommadebylaura.blogspot.com/2018/01/making-applique.html

 The Original Romper

My fusible web over the romper to trace. I'm tracing in washable marker just in case anything happens 😉

 All of my car pieces 

All stitched down!

Unfortunately, I forgot to flip it, so my car is driving the opposite direction of the original. I realized this before I ironed the car down, but my time is limited, and I decided it was close enough for me to be happy.  

Incorporating Valentine's Day 

So I mentioned before that this pattern I used was for a REVERSIBLE ROMPER. I love reversible clothes for babies! They're too fun. Well, I wanted to do the car in red, just like the car on the original romper, so I thought I would line the romper using red fabric. I had already planned to make an applique onesie or tee shirt for all of the kids, so I decided to just add Luke's applique to the lining of the car romper. I chose to make Luke's elephant from the corduroy fabric since there will be a cuff turned up at the bottom, and I wanted it to match.  

And y'all, I have Daniel's, Luke's, and Matthew's Valentine's Appliques done on February 1st! WHAT? This never happens. Haha I'm usually last minute, so I'm feeling pretty proud here!  

If you're interested, here is the link to the design I used for their Valentine's Day design. It's from Itch2Stitch.

   

https://www.theitch2stitch.com/Valentine-Elephant-Applique.html 

Making It All Happen 

I went ahead and sewed the front pants together and then attached the front bodice for both the main fabric (the corduroy) and the lining (the red cotton). Then I ironed my car onto the corduroy and stitched everything down. I used my embroidery machine to put the elephant design on the inside piece. 

Then I sewed it all together, following the instructions on the pattern. 

YAY!!! 🎉🎉

My Snaps 

I love KAMSNAPS! Love them! I use the plastic ones for sewing cloth diapers all the time, and for things such as the shoulder snaps here. 

For the inseam snaps, I prefer the metal open ring snaps, because they're less bulky and easier for me to open. I also don't feel like I'm going to rip the clothes apart unsnapping and re-snapping for a billion diaper changes. So I definitely recommend them! But either plastic or metal are pretty easy to install with the right press and dies, and many people use plastic for inseam snaps even, so it's really just personal preference. 🙂  

You can get all of your snaps, plastic or metal, and even get a certificate of compliance (if you're selling) from Kamsnaps.com. They’re amazing! 

The Finished Product 

So, I'm super happy with Luke's finished romper. Now all the kids can have a picture made in a similar romper!  I can't wait to get my sister, who is the family photographer 😉, to take a picture for me of Luke wearing it! I'm sure I'll update this when we get photos!! 

I have included my affiliate link for the Reversible Overalls Pattern I used throughout this post :-) 

Mamma Can Do It has some fabulous other patterns too! Be sure to check their page out if you haven't yet!

If you choose to sew this Romper, be sure to share in the Mamma Can Do It Facebook Group!