Handshakes are pretty powerful thing. The un-inked agreement between two hands attached to separate bodies is what has made the world what it is today. Business deals, grand ceremonies, formal greetings, and, of course, bets all require handshakes to solidify an idea becoming an event. My friends, Dan and Roxanne, shook hands a couple months ago on a particular bet that I got to facilitate… and oh boy was it fun! *insert enthusiastically villian-esque evil laugh here*

*still cackling*

(eh hem) Anyhoo, so to give you some backstory: Kyle and Rama are an awesome couple with an awesome 4 year old boy named Jaden. One night while a group of us were at their house for our Monday night gathering for “The Voice” it was revealed that come December, Jaden was going to become a big brother! Obviously the room was filled with enthusiasm at the idea of Rama having a little bun in the oven, but the question was would it be a boy or a girl?!?!

Roxanne said it would be a girl, Dan thought it would be a boy, and somewhere along the line a bet was formed. The stakes: Loser, who incorrectly guesses the sex of the baby, has to wear a grown-up sized baby costume of the for the duration of the baby gender reveal party. Said costume must be gender stereotype specific to baby being born. Winner gets to cackle.

Either way, I was in charge of making the costume!

A few days before the party, the parents got the results in a sealed envelope, which they gave to me, and I had the heart pounding experience of opening it to see the results! The only people to know were myself, the cake decorator, and the doctors–everyone else would find out at the party. I was extremely nervous to know, because I knew how badly they wanted a little girl, and I had to keep a straight face in the days leading up to the reveal.

I opened up the envelope and inside was the ultrasound picture and a note that said

It’s a GIRL

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Naturally I had a mini freakout and car-danced about it as I drove to the fabric store to buy pink fabric.

Finding out that this incredible family is going to expand in the way they had dreamed was so exciting, but the only thing that made it better was realizing that Dan has to wear a baby girl costume all. night. long. 

*more over-enthusastic cackling*

I couldn’t laugh forever though- I was headed to Seattle until the day of the party and I only had 24 hours to buy materials, create the pattern, and put it all together! I needed a plan. I knew I’d need a bonnet, a skirt, and a top. There would need to be lace, it had to be pink, and there was a special request for polka-dots. Teehee! What was more important, is that I needed a fabric that was cheap, easy to work with, and would be forgiving since I knew I was going to have to whip up this outfit like a bat out of hell.

Here’s what I ended up with:

– Felt. This is perfect fabric for short term costumes. It comes in all colors, doesn’t stretch so is easy to work with, is a breeze to cut, and is definitely affordable. Shout out to homegirl JoAnn for coupons! I bought pink and white and wasn’t really sure how much I would need, but ended up being okay. It is always better to have an extra yard. Always.

– Elastic. I didn’t have Dan’s measurements, but knew I could guess about how much give I would need to get it around his waist.

– Lace. Obviously. Making Dan a pretty baby girl was going to take extra measures. Dan, if you are reading this, I mean that in the nicest way….lol

–Velcro. I ain’t got tiiiiime for no zippers! Velcro sticks right to felt and takes minimal application time.

I started with the bonnet. I looked up ideas online and ended up measuring my own head to get it just right. There are a lot of elaborate designs out there but  the quick and dirty 2 piece seemed to look just fine.

From there I went to the shirt. I mostly eyeballed the pattern piece from memory of shirt pattern pieces I had seen in the past. This ended up coming up a little short on the back, and I later had to add a panel. The sleeves, on the other hand, were something I would definitely put in the “win” category. I’ve always been intimidated by sleeves, but was able to cut out, gather, and sew in without puckers or mishaps on the first try!!! Wahoo!!

After that I made the skirt. I ended up having to cut 4 separate pieces to make sure I had enough of the pink, but ultimately I was fine and attached an elastic waistband.  If I would have had time, I would have made a dress, but instead figured that a shirt tucked into the skirt would give a similar enough effect.

Surprisingly, the polka dots were the biggest challenge. I didn’t want to hand sew, but the felt was so thick I was nervous about trying to maneuver my machine to sew them on, and I had gotten a little overeager to put the sleeves on before the dots. I decided to go for it, and one by one used a close zig-zag stitch around each dot, all while an objectively horrible Hillary Duff movie played in the background. They weren’t perfect, but they were there in all their feminine glory!

I got a chance to finish it up before the party, and I added the extra back panel for the inches of fabric that I underestimated, slapped some velcro on that bad boy, and it was party time!

I kept a poker face for a solid hour at the party people analyzed my eye movements with hungry eyes! Na na na boo boo- I totally knew! We ate some delicious dinner and then it was time to cut the cake! Mama Rama found the pink shoe baked in the cake and tears and hugs followed. Dan was dismissed to go find the costume that awaited him, and returned in my creation!

Ay bay bay!!

*still cackling* 

There’s Roxanne smiling ear to ear knowing that she won the bet 😉

It fit! Which was an exciting moment for me, and I think that pink really goes well with his skin tone, don’t you?

Check out some precious moments:

Awww

First family photo with their baby girl……. lol

I  even got a pic in with my creation!

By the end of the night Dan’s inner Jersey baby came out….

You lookin’ at me? Can’t a baby get a drink around hea?????

As you can tell, it was a great time and I was so grateful to get to add to the fun of the evening and celebrate with Rama, Kyle, and Jaden as they look forward to welcoming a new family member to the planet!!!

Thanks, guys!! And of course, thanks to Dan for being such a good sport.

As far as sewing goes, this was like a fun challenge to race against the clock and get to make something all my own.  It felt really good to go into a project confidently, and to come out on the other side having accomplished what needed to get accomplished.

Who knows, maybe my claim to fame will one day be a high end line of baby style menswear!

And on THAT disturbing thought, I wish you a happy Saturday…

😉

xo

P.S. Rama has a phenomenal website called Freshly Grown! When you get a chance, give her page a “like” on Facebook and check out her great website. She has a really personal testimony that has led her to a healthy lifestyle and it is incredibly inspirational!  www.freshly-grown.com