Christmas Princess

The Bug got to choose her own Christmas dress this year. 

She picked the Ballerina Girl pattern from Ellie Inspired. This is the first Ellie Inspired pattern I've used and it was a little different than what I'm used to but it turned out beautifully.

The Bug's favorite color is this shade of blue. Not the most traditional Christmas color but lovely none the less.  The bodice and sash and nice slippery satin and the skirt is about 9 yards of tulle layered and gathered over a satin underskirt. It has a very "princess" effect doesn't it?

We paired the dress up with a gold cardigan and some gold glitter flats from Ruum (they had some super pre-Christmas sales).  The perfectly matched hairbow is a gift from a friend and the necklace is mine.  She felt very fancy.

Ellie Inpired is currently in the processes of adding American Girl doll patterns to all of their big girl patterns but since I bought my ballerina girl pattern before that format change, I had to figure out a coordinating doll dress on my own.  I found a book at the library with some great 18" doll patterns, "Doll Fashion Studio" by Joan Hinds. 

I was out of satin so I used this similarly colored corduroy that I had on hand.  I found just two of these little vintage rhinestone buttons in grandma's button jar. They are purely decorative, not functional since the dress closes up with a narrow strip of velcro. 

I made this dress in a size 7 hoping it would fit for a while. It will for sure, it's plenty long and there is enough room for a year or maybe even two of growth in the waist and bodice.

~Lindsay

Christmas Dress

Did you think I forgot about this blog? Whew! Between secretive sewing (for Christmas gifts), general seasonal running to and fro and being sick I have been gone far too long.

The good news is, I have a bit of a stock pile of posts.

If you've been here any ammount of time you know, this is kind of how I roll. Feast or famine.

Well, feast your eyes on this. . .

The Bug's Christmas dress this year was a bubble dress. I used the pattern from Heidi and Finn and it couldn't have come together any easier. And I'm in love with the results. This may be the Easter dress as well. I like it that much.

I feel inclined to add, the headband is from Crazy 8 and it's a simple fabric rosette (that I totally could have made myself but sometimes you need to know when to say when). In these pictures it resembles a tea cup and saucer, which is kind of whimsical and fun but not really the look I was going for.  The tights are grey with silver sparkly stripes that we found at Target. They are "itchy", so be forewarned.  She tolerated them for the sake of fashion but I'm not sure they will be in frequent rotation around here.

The back closes with a simple tie.
I like the simplicity of it (no buttons or zippers? I'm in!) and it brings a bit of interest to the back of the dress.

The Bug loves it.  We've had such unseasonably warm weather this winter that I didn't really think about it being sleeveless until the 11th hour. 

So I thought a quick cape might be a good solution.
I had the perfect piece of purple wool in my stash of fabric from Grandma.

I used the Simple Simon Audrey cape tutorial. I think I should have made the smaller version. This one was a bit big on her.  And somehow my collar was too small. Still. . . it turned out super cute.

I think my favorite part is the vintage button.
It's so fancy.

Turns out, the Bug was not as enamoured with the cape as I was. She wouldn't wear it at all. She said it wasn't warm. She's probably right. I lined it with lining fabric so it was slick and cool inside. I should have used cotton or flannel for added warmth. Live and learn.

She did like it a tad bit better when she realized it spins. So there was at least that.

~Lindsay

The Christmas Day Dress

This girl of mine, she is my muse. . .

I could not stop sewing for her if I tried.

Therefore, she has more Christmas dresses this year than any little girl needs.

You may remember the apron dress? Technically, that was last year but I made it big enough that she could wear it again this year and she did.

Then there would be the silver "test" model dress.  You know, the one with the too small neck? Yeah, I fixed it.

Then there is the nightgown turned Christmas Eve dress.

But all along this little purple number was the one I intended.

This time the neck fits. Thankful I made a muslin.

The pattern is the Sara dress by littledresspattern on Etsy. The fabric is a beautiful satin that I found at JoAnn's.

My cell phone photo doesn't do it justice but I don't carry my big camera to church--even on Christmas day.

I used the wrong side of the satin for the bow around the neck and for a band around the bottom. I think it's just the right amount of sophisticated detail.

She has lovely purple shoes that are just perfect for this dress.

However, when you are four there is no pair of shoes more perfect than the one that glitters.

My beautiful girl was thrilled.

She said, "Mommy, everything I am wearing today sparkles! It's like I'm going to a wedding. I look like a princess!"

Yes dear girl, you are my little princess.

~Lindsay

Christmas nightgown. . . err. . . dress. . .

I am hopeless.

Really. . . how many Christmas dresses does one girl need?

In my defense, however, this one started out with the intention of being a Christmas nightgown made of the scraps of Christmas fabric I had laying around.

As I worked on it, it became clear to me that this was way too cute to be slept in.

Plus, the quilters cotton is just too stiff to be comfortable for snoozing.

Or so I thought.

It didn't stop the Bug from falling asleep halfway through Christmas Eve service.

The pattern is the Little Lizard King's Elizabeth Claire dress with the long sleeve option.

I love the bell effect created with the elastic halfway down the sleeve.

The skirt is less full because I was working with small amounts of fabric.  I should have pieced more in because it did not meet the Bug's twirl requirement.

In my defense, I thought I was sewing a nightgown and it just morphed into a dress. Twirling is less important in a nightgown.

I hope you all had a very blessed Christmas.

I'll be playing catch up here this week, posting gifts that were made and couldn't be shared, plus the real Christmas Day dress. . . yes there is another one. . .

~Lindsay

Christmas Dress

I finished the Bug's Christmas dress.

Oh yes I did.

One and a half months early. Not that I'm counting. Or bragging.

But, it's not even Thanksgiving yet. . . (patting self on back)

O.k.. . . well. . . truth:  I sort of finished the Bug's Christmas dress.  This wasn't technically even supposed to work out to be something wearable. I had this free fabric that was mis-sent by fabric.com a while back and I thought, what the heck, I'm going to test this new pattern I bought.

My "muslin" so to speak.

So I did.

And I'm kind of smitten with it.

I didn't love the fabric when it came. I kind of thought it was horrible. Stiff and gaudy and just pure yuckiness.

But in a shiny, sparkley holiday dress I think it's sort of perfect.

What ISN'T perfect is the neck.

Even when the bow is untied it does not fit over the Bugs head.

I'm pretty sure this is my fault and not the fault of the pattern. And it's an easy enough fix, pick off the bow and let out some neck gathers, I just haven't done it yet.

I lined the whole deal with this crazy red polyester old lady fabric (grandma's fabric, the gift that keeps on giving) and I think that pop of Christmas red in there is my very favorite part.  The pattern didn't call for any lining but this silver fabric was so stiff and uncomfortable I knew the Bug wouldn't ever wear it without a soft lining added.

This is such a sweet pattern and a quick sew that I'm going to give it another go in some fabric that's a bit nicer and in a color (purple) that I'm pretty much garunteed the Bug will wear.  Stay tuned!

~Lindsay