Baby Drawers

I was reading Elizabeth Stewart Clark's suggestions on dressing infants and liked her idea about making some baby drawers to put over our modern, disposable diapers (there's no way I'm going with cloth).

So, I found on page 50 of The Workwoman's Guide (Plate 7, figures 1 & 2) how to make some little drawers.

I wasn't going to hand-sew these, but because I'm on my 9th day of the flu, the sewing machine is in the cold basement, I wanted to watch the Olympics, and the t.v. is upstairs, I decided to chill on the couch with my needle and thread. This project took me about 4 hours; I suspect it would have taken 1 had I used my machine. I also couldn't find my favorite needle, so it took a little longer (never would have imagined I'd have a favorite needle!).

The pattern calls for:
Width: 20.25"
Length: 20.25"
A to B: 9"
E to C: 4.5"
F to B: 9"
Waistband: 11.25" x 3 3/8"

I rounded down and started out with two 20" squares.

I folded that in half, and then in quarters to mark my fabric. I was going to take out my leg-curve starting at the quarter mark, but decided to move an inch up, forgetting, though, that I would actually want that extra fabric at the top of my drawers to use for my unauthentic elastic casing. The end result is some low-rider drawers. We'll see if they cover baby's bottom!

These drawers, if you do add the waistband, appear to be very high-waisted. I didn't want arm-pit huggers, hence, the elastic casing.

After I cut out the leg-curve, I cut out a narrow triangle from the top of the leg-curve to the top of the drawers. The top, narrow part of that triangle was 1".

Then, I sewed up the legs, the front and back, the elastic casing, and did my hemming and growth tucks.

This is the back of the drawers, as is the original image up at the top. The closure is in the back. You can see how I should have either cut the leg out down lower to leave more fabric in the upper part of the drawers or added an inch or so to the top so I'd have enough fabric for my casing.

Baby dress is next. I can't wait! If I could only get better now. . .