Another Penny Playsuit and Viewfinder Top

I have dressed my Penny in her blue Penny Playsuit every chance I’ve gotten. It is just way too adorable, and I love seeing her romp around in it, not to mention it has received more compliments than any other item I’ve ever sewn. Everyone just loves seeing her romping around in it too!

So naturally,I had to make another one!

She’s pretty excited about it too! It’s so quick to sew up, and I love the combination between woven and knit fabrics. The green corduroy was in my stash, leftover from the baby gusset pants. The heart knit is from my JoAnn’s stash.

I kind of forgot how annoying jersey knits can be. I didn’t do anything special to protect/prepare it except make sure I used a ball point needle when sewing with my sewing machine, otherwise most of it is serged. The edges curled a lot, and my serger’s feed dogs actually tore the fabric a little around the zipper. I know of a few ways to keep this from happening, but I didn’t do any of them. Lazy, I know.

My camera was having an issue with the green corduroy; it looks very strange in the photos. Anyway, I love that exposed zipper. It’s easy to take on and off, but still, I’m the only one she wears these with because no one else wants to completely undress her for diaper changes.

I also decided to make a Viewfinder Tee for my older daughter since I had some of the heart fabric leftover, and she really wanted to match her sister.

I tried a couple of new things with this top. I decided to try Wonder Tape to help me with the collar (1/4″ wide and double sided). When folding the wrong sides together, I placed Wonder Tape along the seam to hold them together, then stretched a little when pinning to neck hole. This gave it the stability I needed to serge the seam. I also top stitched the neckline, something I’ve never done for fear of it stretching out. It turned out lovely though!

I used my machine’s stretch stitch to hem the bottom. I think I should’ve folded the bottom under more than 1/2″ because the back keeps curling while she wears it.

I’m very happy with my discovery of Wonder Tape. I discovered this when my local shop didn’t have stay tape, and I found it in the quilting section. It was easy to sew over and washes away in the first wash. I plan to try this out on some of my delicate knits that curl and shift no matter what and make pinning a giant pain. Maybe it’ll help me keep those stripes better matched.

Do you have any sewing tips or tricks that you stumbled on?