Baby Sweater and Bonnet

The finished set.

So I decided to make my daughter a bonnet and sweater.  I looked for hours for a good pattern online, or picture of something I liked.  I didn't find a thing. After browsing online, I closed my laptop and began to crochet.

The bonnet I found one of her old ones, store bought and looked at it. Primarily just to see how it was shaped.  And made one, simliar shaped to it, but big enough to fit her. I didn't take pictures of that process...

The following, is not a pattern of the sweater, but simply my thought process of creating.  I don't draw out a design, I get an idea in my head and just start.

This is how I started.  The base of the back. I made gaps/spaces in the design, to save yarn, and to also make it go faster.  Now mind you, as you continue to read, I already have a "blue-print" so to speak in my head. 

After my rectangular block was done, I detached.  You can see the tail on the left underneath the Chain stitches.  So this is where I began the sleeves.  I chained some stitches and then attached to my block, and worked across it, then chained again for the beginning of the other arm.

After working across the chains, the orignal block and to the other side of the chain, to make sleeves. You can see that I started the front of the sweater.  This part, so far, is actually the part of the sweater that sits on her shoulders, and begins the neck opening.

The front flap started.

This is the shape of the blue-print I had in my head before I began.  A block,  then chain for sleeves, work in the chains and the block, then continue on and make one side.   I didn't get to take pictures after all steps. Setting things out, and pulling out the camera attracts attention of little ones.  So after I got the one flap finished, I fastened off, and re-attached to the other side to create the rest of the arm, and the other flap of the front.

 

This is the same phase as the previous picture, I just folded it over, so you could see that it actually is shaped like a sweater now.  After this, I whip-stitched the front to the back at the sides, and all the way to the wrist.  I hate whip-stitching. I don't know if that's what you call it in sewing, since I'm not a sewer, but I hate it.   I could not come up with any other good way of connecting the front and the back, without it being noticeable or  ugly, so I was forced to whip-stitch...yuck.  Anyways, moving on... :)

 This is the finished sweater, minus buttons.  For the trim, I simply attached brown yarn and worked around the 'waist' of the sweater, and continued on up the center, then into the neck opening and down the other side of the center opening and joined back to where I started, does that even make sense? haha...  ;-)  Oh and attached some flaps with button holes.

So that's my creative process.  I get an idea in my head and just start working.  I've never made anything like this before.  Almost every things I had ever made were FLAT.  It wasn't until just a couple weeks ago, that I made winter hats, and they turned out so well, I thought I'd give other things a try.  Since babies are so small, I thought my daughter would be a good size to attempt something new.  And since she can't talk yet, if they don't look right, she won't tell me she's embarrassed to wear them.

Anyways, here's the final picture of my daughter modeling both pieces.

I'm so proud of how this turned out.  Almost amazed with myself.  I wish my Gramma was still here, so I could show her what I designed and created.  She taught me how to crochet 17 years ago, when I was just a little girl.  I never would have thought I could design my own piece of clothing, this elaborate.