Ukulele baby bodysuit

This cute baby project was inspired by something that I saw on Pinterest a long time ago – unfortunately I can’t find out where the original link came from before it was posted on a tumblr account. If anyone can help me out with that, let me know! The original is actually a guitar bodysuit, but (as I play the ukulele) when I saw it I knew I’d have to have a go at making a ukulele version, especially as some of my fellow uke-ers have recently had babies! I think the original version is probably printed onto the fabric, but I thought that an appliqué version would look good. I’m not going to pretend that this is an easy project – sewing the neck of the uke in the arm is pretty tricky – but it is fun! And when it’s done you can play the uke on baby’s tummy! 🙂 I’ve included the templates in this post, so you can download them by clicking on the link below.

Before you begin, you’ll need to wash any fabric that you’re using to make sure that the colours don’t run.

You will need

A long-sleeved bodysuit (I used these 6-9 month size from Marks and Spencer)
Some fabric for the ukulele body
Some brown fabric for the ukulele neck
Some pattern paper (or baking parchment does the job nicely too!)
A pencil
Some sharp fabric scissors
Pins, needle and matching thread
Ukulele baby bodysuit templates – these are based on a soprano size uke, so use the inner lines on the templates for the 6-9 month size suit

Step 1

Trace the templates onto your pattern paper, and then cut out each piece of fabric.

Step 2

Carefully pin the pieces onto the bodysuit as shown. You could glue them on first if you like – I didn’t do that, but it would help to keep them secure as you sew.

Step 3

Using matching thread and small stitches, sew the body of the ukulele onto the bodysuit. It’s easiest to start where it meets the neck, so that you can secure both pieces of fabric.

Step 4

Sew the smaller pieces of fabric on using brown thread and the same small stitches.

Step 5

Now you need to sew the ukulele neck along the arm – this is quite tricky because it is so small! Try to keep your stitches small if possible.

Step 6

Measure a small piece of the coloured fabric to make the final piece of ukulele – I actually wasn’t planning on adding this, but had to when my brown fabric didn’t quite reach the end of the sleeve! Pin it on and fold over the edge before sewing as before, making sure you have secured it on the inside.

And that’s it – ta-dah!

If you’re feeling adventurous, you could embroider the strings on – I had planned on doing this, but actually liked the look of it without them when I had finished. Here’s to happy ukulele babies! 🙂