Adding Buttons to Romper Straps

Rayna's Retro Romper is a favorite for summertime, and did you know that we just upsized Rayna's to Tweens?! It's so cute on older girls too! 

One of my favorite features about Rayna's is the adorable straps in back. They are so cute on their own or layered over a tee. We have heard concerns from some moms, though, that their daughters might not be able to tie those super cute straps on by themselves in back. (My daughter can, but we also have long arms in our family!) It's not a big deal to get help with tying at home, but Mom or Sister won't always be around to help at school or play when the need arises!

Well, I'm excited to say that we have a fun solution for tweens that can't tie the back straps by themselves! On the blog today we have one of our fabulous Tween testers here to show us how to add buttons to the front of romper straps so tweens can fasten and unfasten their Rayna's in a flash! Jessica Simmons is here from RoxieRoo2 to show us how it's done, using these simple changes to the pattern:

Change #1: When you cut the fabric for the shoulder straps, add 2" to the length to accommodate the extra room for the button.

Change #2: On Step 14 you need to sew down one long side and down one short side so that the strap is finished on three sides. Turn the strap right side out and top stitch around all three sides. (Only one side will be left with raw edges.)

Change #3: Skip Step 24 because we will not be attaching the straps to the bodice.

Change #4: When you get to Step 29, top stitch like the pattern says. Once you are done top stitching, figure out where the strap placement should be, based off the pattern piece. Using it as a guide, measure 1/2" down from the finished top edge of the bodice and mark a line for a 1" button hole.  See the blue marks in the photo above. Repeat the marks on the other side of the bodice.

Sew the two vertical button holes, as shown above.

Take the two shoulder straps and measure 1" from the finished edge and mark a dot. This will be the center of your button placement.  

If you choose, before sewing the button you can pleat the shoulder strap and tack in place where the button will be sewn on (so no one will see the tack under the button). This will give the same pleated look as the regular Rayna straps.

Sew a button of your choice onto each strap.

You have now added button shoulder straps to your romper!

Thank you so much to Jessica for her clever adjustment and helpful tutorial today! l. If you have a moment, please go show Jessica some appreciation over on her RoxieRoo2 page here! She has some really cute stuff to share.

Another great thing about Jessica's tutorial today is that this technique will also work with several other patterns as well. Our kids love being able to get in and out of their clothes themselves, so why not make it easy on them while still being stylish?

Let's Create! ~ Kristen