Anytime you sit down to plan sewing a garment, I recommend imagining the child/person you’re sewing for, on the day(s) they’re wearing the garment, actually doing all the parts of that day. When I’m sewing for my kids I usually try to imagine the places they’ll be in their outfits and the activities they’ll be trying to do. I imagine the shoes and sweaters they’ll wear, how their hair will be done, even the socks they’ll wear. I imagine the twirls they’ll do, the food they’ll eat, anything I can think of to help me create an outfit that will be exactly perfect for them.
Now, I’m recommending this as a person who does all that and is rarely correct in her imaginings. These outfits magically did exactly what I pictured them doing, when I thought they’d be doing it, on the people I imagined wearing them. Then, drumroll here please… I miraculously got pictures of them doing what I’d imagined. So, the photos scattered throughout this post are actual images of my plans coming to fruition. Needless to say I will treasure them forever, and will likely never be this lucky (or accurate!) again.
Because all of the stars miraculously aligned for this coordinated Christmas, I thought I’d document what they’re wearing for you here.
Let’s start with Maria. She is wearing Trudy Horne’s “Yoke Dress.” Trudy Horne creates the patten line “Collars Etc.” You can find her on Instagram as @TrudySewing. Her patterns are classic, have a large size range, and contain phenomenally written directions. I can’t recommend them enough. The fabric I used for her dress and all the other outfits is by Spechler Vogel, from Farmhouse Fabrics. It is called “Wildberry Featherwale Corduroy.” The trim I used on her collar and small tab can be found here. I gathered the trim with three gathering threads to ensure straight gathers. For her collar I used a swiss pique. Its one of my favorite fabrics to use for collars, particularly if the ensemble is a similarly weighted fabric. The buttons I used were similar to these. I used floche to create these bullion roses.
During this project I learned that floche makes some of the most beautiful bullions. I also learned that straw needles are my preferred needle for making bullions. The entire length of the needle is one width, making it considerably easier to pull the bullion off the needle as you’re making them.
Moving on to Robby’s outfit. The pattern I chose for the shirt was the Children’s Corner Basic’s For Boy’s Button On. To create it I used this white Pimalene. I almost always have this fabric on hand, it is one of my go-to’s for tops. The smocking plate can be found here. One of the fun facts I learned while smocking this garment is that the DMC floche and regular floss colors have the same numbers. You can easily match different fibers by using the exact same number.
I did not use the Basics for Boys shorts pattern, instead opting for the Children’s Corner Robbert with a faux button. I did this mainly because I was lazy and did not want to fool with the pleats or the button holes.
John Luke’s outfit is probably the least complicated of them all. I used the Children’s Corner Jamie, the same corduroy and smocking plate as the others and made few changes. There is a newer version of this pattern that I highly recommend. the updated instructions are much easier to understand than the older patterns instructions.
The only change I made to this garment was to remove some of the width of the bottom to accommodate my thicker fabric. Because I removed some of the width, I only put in a single pleat at the crotch of this garment. I also did this because I find it considerably easier to iron when there is only one pleat there.
Phew! That’s all folks! I hope you enjoyed learning the details of these outfits and picked up some new insights. One of the things I most enjoy about sewing is that I learn something new with almost very garment. Hopefully you were able to learn something new through these too 🙂
