The next challenge. Still for babies.

I'm excitedly waiting for DH to return from the library with Winifred Aldrich's childrenswear patterncutting book! I requested a hold on it, and when I checked it's status I found it was "lost". I swore (a lot) about some evil person deciding not to return it rather than buy it, and looked it up on Amazon. There's a new edition, which I am seriously coveting (and may well buy), but to my delight, I got an email this morning to say "my" book is ready to be collected! So, not so lost after all?

The reason I'm so keen to get hold of it is that I've had a number of comments on some of the clothes I've made the babies, and suggestions that I make some to sell. (DH's employer's wife even talked to the people at an up-market shop which does carry some locally made children's clothes about me!) I find that a very appealing proposition. However, if I'm going to sell clothes, they need to be my patterns. I have a good set of measurements, which I was given as part of a research paper I did for a final year clothing paper for my degree (a phd student at the University was doing a study on children's sizes, and I was able to use her data!) All I need are the block-drafting instructions. The library book starts at size two, so I might need to do some fudging for baby sizes. The new edition starts at birth. I so want it!

Pretty much everything I make starts with a commercial pattern because it's so much quicker than drafting from scratch. I am dying to draft a jean jacket! I love the one I made Nicholas, but it has way more ease than he needs, and even his cousin (who is more regular sized) had loads of room in it. I could never be bothered altering it, but now it's going to be my first attempt - a jean jacket to fit Nicholas (well, a jean jacket to fit someone his age - it'll still be big on him!)