Crochet Criss Cross Diamond Romper Layette

Back in May, I found out from my auntie that my cousins were expecting a baby, and that she wanted to order a special crocheted gift for her first grandbaby by Rebeckah's Treasures.  She wanted to wait to find out the baby's sex before deciding what I should make.  We found out that it would be a boy, just as I had guessed, in August.

She wasn't certain exactly what she wanted, so I sent her a few pictures of ideas I had.  She liked two of the ideas, so using them as a starting point, I got started crocheting the romper late in September.

I worked on this project throughout the entire month of October, and I was able to send it to her last Monday.  It arrived safely on Friday, and I am happy to report that it was well received by my auntie and my cousins, the parents-to-be. 

My auntie's reaction to seeing the photo above before I sent it to her was "That is adorable! So exited to get it. Thank you beautiful lady. Love love love it. Will send a picture of Baby in it." 

My cousin-in-law/momma-to-be's reaction upon receiving the gift was "Rebeckah! The package arrived! Such an amazingly cute and beautiful gift!. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! The baby will look so adorable in his new handmade outfit and mommy will be so proud.: ))...Thank you again! I just love it and it will always be so special knowing it was made by you with love."

I am waiting to find out from the parents-to-be if I will be able to share the picture of the baby in the outfit.

UPDATE: It fits at last!  See baby in the outfit.

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The Crochet Romper

The first piece of the set to be started, and the last bit to be finished was the crochet romper. To the right you will see various stages of the romper in progress, and below you will see front, back, and open views of the finished romper...

I started with the top half of the romper first using a stitch that is similar to the "diamond stitch" (links to video tutorial),  but is my own design.  The stitch for the upper portion of the romper is called "Criss Cross Diamond Stitch" and I will be making a pattern of the stitch as soon as I can.

I crocheted the top portion from bottom up, then I sewed the shoulder and side seams together before crocheting the bottom part of the romper. The sleeves were not crocheted until the rest of the set was ready as I wasn't sure how I wanted to do them right away.

The bottom portion of the romper is crocheted directly onto the bottom of the top.  The stitching used for the bottom half is called the "interlocking shells stitch" (links to pattern & video tutorial).  Since the colour is changed each row, I was able to crochet both legs of the romper at the same time.  I wanted to crochet it so that there would be easy access to the baby's bottom.

I sewed 4 snaps to the top portion, and 11 snaps to the bottom portion of the romper.

It is approximately size 3-6 months.

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The Booties

After I had finished crocheting most of the romper, I quickly crocheted these little booties using the same stitching as I used for the top portion of the romper.  I started from the center bottom of the bootie and worked in rounds until I got to the sides.  From there I switched to rows to build up the sides of the booties, then I crocheted the flap.  After the bootie was finished, I crocheted a white shoe lace for it, and weaved it in.

These are approximately size 0-6 months.

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The Hat

I crocheted the hat next.  I also used the criss cross diamond stitch for the whole of the hat.  It is working in rounds starting from the center top of the hat.  Once I had gotten it to a good length, I crocheted a white brim.  Then, I crocheted a couple circles to stick buttons into to sew onto the hat.

It is approximately size 0-6 months.

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The Monkey

As a bonus gift, I crochet a little monkey for the baby. 

He is 12.7 cm (5") tall.

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More Fun Views of the Set...

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Visit my Baby Apparel category to see other things I have crocheted for babies, and Amigurumi to see other cute little animals I have crocheted.

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I would love to hear your thoughts about the set, so feel free to comment below...