When my first son was baptized I purchased one of those fancy little boy baptismal outfits. You know, the kind that come covered in a plastic garment bag to make you feel like it was worth the fortune you just spent?
Well I thought it was a worthwhile investment at the time but found out the morning of his christening that his special outfit looked cute but that's about it. It was stiff, the fabric didn't breathe and we ended up being a family of sweaty people standing in front of a congregation that could probably see our glistening foreheads from the very, very back of the church. Plus, as soon as the ceremony was over we were frantically peeling him out of the outfit before we were even firmly seated back in our chairs. He spent the rest of the service in his onesie...at least he wasn't naked. Still, too hot. Too hectic. Not to be repeated.
So this time around I decided I was going to leave the little outfit in its special little bag and thought I'd just buy a little white polo onesie instead. But alas, no one apparently makes such a thing, or at least they aren't in any stores in my area at the moment. So, plan B. Make something myself.
I decided it didn't need to be fancy, just practical, white, and not offensive. In the end, I thought a basic Gerber onesie would do the trick. For all intents and purposes, it's pretty much what we used last time anyway. This one would just be dressed up a bit to include a baby blue neck tie. Dressy, no?
Here's what I needed:
- Blue satin ribbon
- Cross (from the jewelry section at Michael's Craft Store)
- Hot glue gun
- Needle and thread
Cost (minus onesie, already had) = $3.34
To get started, I cut a piece of ribbon a few inches in length, maybe 7 or so (okay, so I forgot to measure). Then I folded over the bottom edge just a bit and glued it in place. The intent was to keep the ribbon from fraying.
Next I folded the little ends over, making triangles and glued them in place. This created the end of the tie.
For the top, I folded over the top of the ribbon and glued the loop in place at the end, glued side to the back. When done, the loop was just over an inch in length.
Then I gathered the loop piece as shown below and sewed it together to make the top of the tie.
That last close up is really clear, no? Anyhow, then I placed this little gem around the gathered part of the tie to look as though someone actually tied it. Yes, oh so clever.
The last step was to sew the cross to the "tie" and then a dab of hot glue at the top neck line of the onesie and near the end of the tie was all that was needed to keep it in place.
Add a pair of fluffy little white socks for some teeny tiny feet and we're ready to go. Might not be super fancy, but it'll do the trick!
Add a pair of fluffy little white socks for some teeny tiny feet and we're ready to go. Might not be super fancy, but it'll do the trick!
Now to start planning that post-babtism brunch.
