Infants' Pinafores

I went ahead and made a pinafore for the baby using The Workwoman's Guide. The Infants' Pinafore is found on page 30 and corresponds with Plate 3, figure 18.


The book says pinafores are made out of diaper, Holland, linen, or print. Obviously, I did not use any of these. OK, I don't know what diaper or Holland is, but I don't think my fabric qualifies. I wanted a fabric that would also work for a boy.

I've made one of Elizabeth Stewart Clark's pinafores in the past, and I like her construction better than this one. However, The Workwoman provided some not-as-full measurement options in various sizes:

First Size
Length 8
Width 24.75
Depth of arm-hole 4.5
Piece left for shoulder 1.68
Quantity hollowed out of neck .56
Length of frill to each arm-hole 22.5
Depth of frill 1.125
Distance from top for 2nd tape 4.5
Size of gussets 1.125

2 yrs.
Length 22.5
Width 31.5
Depth of arm-hole 6.18
Piece left for shoulder 2.25
Quantity hollowed out of neck .56
Length of frill to each arm-hole 22.5
Depth of frill 1.125
Distance from top for 2nd tape 5.06
Size of gussets 1.125

6 yrs.
Length 27
Width 33.75
Depth of arm-hole 6.18
Piece left for shoulder 2.81
Quantity hollowed out of neck .56
Length of frill to each arm-hole 22.5
Depth of frill 1.68
Distance from top for 2nd tape 5.62
Size of gussets 1.68

The things I really didn't like with this pattern were the assembly and construction. For instance, you make the armhole without a seam down the side and just re-enforce the bottom of the slit with stitches. It's just not very pretty to me. I was also annoyed that I finished the arm hole, just to add a ruffle later. I could have just put the ruffle on, right sides together, flipped it over, and finished the inside that way. It seems like they did it this way so that they could remove frills for washing.


I also didn't really like the neckline; it was too loose, and the neck corners were ugly. However, I did run a string with knotted ends through the front to gather it up.


I have to admit my sewing wasn't very pretty on this one. Somehow I missed that my shoulders ended up being different widths when I first stitched them together. I don't like this garment well enough to go back and fix it. I also got annoyed at my frey-ey fabric. Not my most favorite project, but at least it didn't take too long.