How to Keep the Kids Warm & Toasty

November goat shenanigans lead to April babies....and April can still be pretty durned cold and windy here in New England.  Here is a quick tutorial on how to make some warm baby goat coats with minimal sewing skills.

All you need is some of that fleece material....you know the stuff.....made from recycled plastic bottles, supposedly.  It is rather warm and somewhat wind-proof and best of all it needs no hemming.  It won't unravel and looks great after many washings.  It comes in many colors and designs and if you get it on clearance you can make a bunch of coats for a mere pittance.  Be sure to pick up some coordinating velcro from the bargain bin at the fabric store, too.  Not the sticky kind, the sew on kind.  You don't want it to blend in, just coordinate.  If it matches your material too closely, you will hear me saying, "I told you so!" when you are trying to close those coats on wiggly kids in a poorly lit stall.  I'm telling you.  Listen to the voice of experience.

These coats are great for jumping into piles of hay:

Or falling into piles of hay:

Or when helping with spring yard clean-up.....with proper supervision, of course:

First use newspaper or a rag to make a rough pattern and try it on your kids to get the fit correct.  You will be making this to fit a variety of sizes of kids and you will want it to fit them as they grow, so don't obsess too much.  It really just needs to keep the chest warm.  Keep some extra fabric and velcro on hand so you will be prepared to whip one out if you get any unusually large or small kids.  Over time, you will have a vast collection of these cute little coats.  It is very handy to have two per kid so you can dress them all warmly while they are drying from being born, then change them all into fresh dry coats when they are all fluffy.  The fleece material does a great job of wicking moisture away from damp babies.

Inside of the coat....notice the long, long pieces of velcro to allow for multiple sizes and growing kids:

Outside of coat:

Coat as it will fit on the baby....note the forward placement of the belly band to accommodate the buckling's....er....weiner.  And the healing umbilicus.  The width of the band makes it more comfortable and adds some warmth:

Best of all, a nice warm goat coat makes it possible for baby go out with the big girls!