Tuesday 4 March 2008

Knitted Infant Jacket or Waistcoat with Tapes


I knit this infant jacket or waistcoat (three month old size) with long garter stitch tapes over ten years ago. My construction notes have vanished yet I know that I based it on a late 18th century painting or print I saw in a book at some point. I can still see the baby, wearing a cap, long gown and wrap-around or tape-fastened jacket/waistcoat (probably not knitted but made of linen), sitting upright on a woman's lap in an informal group setting. I do believe there were other children in the picture as well as another or several women. I do not remember a male figure but that does not mean there was not one. I was obviously completely absorbed in the infant's clothing. Perhaps someone reading this entry has seen that image or a similar infant garment.

The yarn is an undyed Morehouse lace weight wool and I would guess I used 3mm needles. It is knit in three pieces (two fronts and a back) from the bottom up (no ribbing or garter stitch edging) with eyelet holes at either bottom side seam for threading through the tapes. After seaming the shoulders, the sleeves were knit down from them to the cuffs as flat pieces and then seamed, as were the two body sides. The long tapes were knit in garter stitch and sewn on to the lower pointed front edges.

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