Recently, I made something for a miniature human – a grandniece. She comes with two sisters (all three are 5 and under), so whoever fits this kurta, gets to wear it until it is handed down. Given the small piece of fabric, this one’s going to fit the middle child, a two year old cutie.
Some of my sewing plans went awry, so the kurta shown here is unfinished as of the uploading of this blog post; please ignore the raw edges and hanging threads. That’s ok, because you know me — I’ll finish it. Also, I’d like the recipient to wear it soon, and not grow out of it before it’s finished!
Fabric: a sheer cotton voile with dainty little “flocked” stars. I found it while browsing around in an antique mall, and suddenly heard someone say the word “fabric”.
Instead of repeating the steps of kurta-making, I’ll send you to two of my previous posts.
Cutting Out a Kurta and Sewing it Up
There are no process photos today, but I hope you enjoy what I’m posting, although unfinished. The kurta is a kind of a minimum waste garment. The cutting layout should explain it.
Here are the kiddie measurements I used for a 2 year old:
Length: back of neck to the knee = 20 inches
Shoulder width: 10 inches
Arm length: 12 inches
Armhole not including the gusset: 8 inches all around (this one was a shot in the dark)
Its an easy sew – except when you come to the tiny underarm gussets and the small placket neckline. It’s not difficult, but very fiddly.
By the way, I’m trying my hand at a graphic illustration of making the neckline placket, and attaching the gusset to a garment. That is, if you’d like to see how I do it.
That’s it for the short and cryptic post; sorry friends, I’m just not feeling chatty today. Once the little kurta gets to the wee recipient (she lives in another town), I will post pictures. Keep warm this winter, and sew a lot.
Samina
Small people should not get gussets until they get bigger. That’s the illustration for ‘fiddly’ right there.
But how on earth she’d wear it without it….
I know this is cheating, but I’d almost split it into two triangles. Having the bias in the fold is important, but sanity has value as well. What you need is to get the recipient and their little fingers to do that part!
This is very lovely. Lucky children!
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Fiddly, all right. But in the interest of getting it on the little people, a gusset becomes necessary — or some version of a gusset. As an after thought, it could have been incorporated in the shape of the sleeve by curving the sleeve underarm to a point. But I just wanted to use traditional methods.
Your comments are always so constructive and interesting. Please keep them coming 🙂
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