Onesie fronts — the Jayhawk has a Powercat on the back and vice versa.

Onesie backs

Santa’s gone, and now Baby New Year is coming to town. In his honor, I created baby onesies for a house divided.

Actually, these onesies are for the new nephew of Lawrence.com editor Trevan McGee. He came up with the idea for a reversible onesie, and I figured out how to implement it.

These have Kansas University and Kansas State University logos on the front and back, so the baby can represent the loyalties of both parents at the same time. You’ll see one logo when holding the baby and the other when burping him.

Parents don’t have to quarrel over which school he’ll support that day — he can do both at once. A veritable Baby Switzerland.

I created appliques by fussy cutting fat quarters of KU and K-State fabric. Fussy cutting just means cutting out a specific part of the fabric’s pattern. You could also cut the fabric into any shape.

I explained how to applique in October for the trick-or-treat tote, but I’ll go over the basics again.

The hardest part of this project was getting ahold of K-State cotton fabric in Lawrence. I was able to lay my hands on some at Stitch On Needlework Shop, 926 Mass.

Supplies

• Cotton fabric
• Interfacing
• Scissors
• Iron
• 2 onesies
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• Satin stitch foot, if you have one

Instructions

1. Place cotton fabric right-side down and lay interfacing adhesive-side down on the back of the cotton fabric in the area you want to cut out. The interfacing’s adhesive side usually has raised dots. Attach the two by pressing with a warm or hot iron. Don’t move the iron around on the interfacing — put it in one spot, hold for about 10 seconds, then lift and move to another area.
2. When all your fabric is prepared, cut out the parts you want as an applique. Pin one applique to the front of the first onesie.
3. Take the onesie to the sewing machine and decide whether you want to sew from the head hole or the bottom. Either way, be sure you don’t sew the front and back together — keep the other layer clear of the presser foot.
4. Sew a satin stitch around the edge of the applique. A satin stitch is a close, wide zigzag stitch. Backstitch a little at the beginning and the end. I found it worked better to have the needle in the applique rather than the jersey of the onesie when turning corners. When finished with the applique, clip the thread close to the fabric.
5. Turn the onesie over and pin the applique from the opposite team to the back. Repeat step 4.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for a second onesie, with the placement of the team appliques reversed. You’ll have a set of two to give to expecting parents.