Craft Time for Avery - Initial Onesies

Last week I found another purchase I wanted to buy for Avery on Etsy (surprise, surprise), but eventually decided it was ridiculously over priced for what it was! After my success with my last DIY project, I made up my mind that I would attempt this one as well. To my surprise, it was WAY easier than I had imagined and they turned out SO cute. I think I am addicted to these…I already have plans for Part II of this project =)

Anyways, here was the item I wanted to buy from the Etsy store. It was $14 + $3 shipping…$17 for this one simple item? Tempting, but no thanks…

So this past Saturday (because I HAVE to do things right when I set my mind to do them or it drives me crazy…also known as impatience!) I drug Jason to Michael's Arts and Crafts where I purchased fabric glue & iron on adhesive strips. We then went next door to JoAnn’s Fabrics where I got these awesome little half yard pieces of fabric each for $1.99! They had a TON to choose from! I already had a lot of white onesies, so that was all I needed as far as supplies go. (I would recommend washing the onesies before starting the craft)

I started by cutting a lowercase “A” template on a small piece of cardboard cardstock that came with the fabric swatches.  I used this to trace all of the “A”s onto the different fabrics. Before cutting, I doubled up the fabric so they would be more firm before sewn onto the onesie. After cutting them out, I glued the two layers together with the washable fabric glue, let them dry, then trimmed the edges. 

The next part is the hardest…but easier for me thanks to my mom’s sewing skills (I sadly have not yet learned how to use a sewing machine, but this is a goal of mine in the near future). She helped sew all of the “A”s onto the different onesies. She used fun zig-zag stitching on some and switched the thread color between light pink and white. We also experimented doing some of them with the stitching fully inside the letter and some with the stitching along the edge of the letter. I think I like it better with the stitching fully inside the letter & these were also apparently the easiest to sew! It probably took about 1 hour to sew on 6 of these…so about 10 minutes per "A". Not too bad (right mom?) =) 

I spent a guestimated total of close to $6 on each finished onesie including the price of the onesies and the materials. That is less than half the price of the Etsy one...and the satisfaction of knowing I made them myself!

And that was it- they are now finished and back in Avery’s onesie drawer awaiting her arrival =) I highly suggest this craft for a rainy day if you are expecting or have little ones! Phase II of this project for me will be winter of next year to make for a few outfits for next spring/summer when she is walking...I am ordering a few of these simple cotton dresses (only $12.99) in various colors and some cute Lilly Pulitzer fabric to do the exact same lettering! Maybe if I get brave, I will attempt her whole name...we'll see =)

Here is Avery wearing one of her "A" onesies at 3 weeks!