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Shewee!!! I did it! This Christmas sewing was a bit of a whirlwind. To start with, I didn’t have my sewing machine. Which made it even more…interesting. Where’s my machine you ask? In the shop, I somehow really upset my feed dogs and have to have a new feed dog unit installed. Soooo I was sewing with Maria’s machine. Its a great little Babylock American Dream but its lacking a few bells and whistles. Oh well, it worked!
So here’s the rundown of what I made: Gail Doane’s Traditional Wool Coat, two Children’s Corner Patterns Tates, one Children’s Corner Pattern Paty, one Collars Etc. Bodice Dress, one Children’s Corner Nancy’s Bib, one Children’s Corner Alex shirt, one Children’s Corner Pattern Robert shorts, one ready-to-smock bubble, and two Creative Needle Allan’s Bubbles. WOAH. If you are still with me I’m impressed. I will be linking all of those patterns (that I can) and giving you all the fabric details below!
Gail Doane’s Traditional Wool Coat
Okay this one may be my favorite of the bunch, so let’s start with it. This is not just a pattern, its a masterclass. I learned SO much from working on this coat. It took me a year to finish (I worked on it intermittently) and it was worth every minute. The techniques I learned while working on this coat transformed my sewing. I used Gail’s prepackaged kit to make this coat. Honestly, Im going to strongly recommend that if you do make this, you use a kit. She prepackaged everything so that you have the perfect amounts of the four different types of interfacing used, the perfect amounts of fabric for both the lining and the outer coat, and the exact right needles for the embroidery. Maria is wearing a size six.
Children’s Corner Tates
These were so darling on! They are made using this pattern. I used a scrumptious velveteen. the exact one I used is no longer available, but I’ll link one similar here. I opted for covered buttons on these, so I just used the exact fabric I used on the coat. Sweet and simple. The boys are wearing sizes two and three.
Children’s Corner Paty
I love this pattern. It’s like it was made for Liberty of London and Liberty of London was made for it. You can find the fabric I used here (while its in stock). I made one small tweak to the pattern and it was to use the Children’s Corner Patterns Scalloped Collar add-on. It is a really lovely detail that you can barely see in these pictures (full disclosure–Maria was in 6-year-old molar “h, e, double hockey-sticks” when she wore this, so pictures were not her priority). Maria is wearing a size six.
Collars Etc. Bodice Dress
I lovvvvvvvvveee the length of the bodice on this dress. It is EXACTLY right for Maria’s stage of life. She is six and-a-half and it is “chef’s kiss” perfection. This dress goes all the way up to a size eight and Maria is wearing a six. I used the same veleveteen I used for the boy’s coats for this classic look.
Children’s Corner Nancy’s Bib
This was such a fun little project for me. I haven’t made a pinafore before so this was a brand new adventure. I made this one using the insertions and beading listed in the next section, and this gorgeous wide edging. I chose to interline the entire pinafore using an organdy to give it lots of body. I love the way it turned out. I can’t find this pattern anywhere to link, but there are a lot of “pinafore” patterns that would give you the same look. This one would work!
Children’s Corner Alex and Robert
This one was really fun. My heirloom days are limited with Robby so I decided to do a little lace on this year’s Christmas shirt. I used this satin batiste, sweet insertion and a simple beading with a red ribbon running through. I love satin batiste for heirloom pieces because its got a little more weight than the pima batiste, has a lovely sheen and is very affordable. I used the Alex pattern for the shirt because I love the length of it. I used the Robert pattern for the shirt because they’re lined and have a flat front. Robby is wearing a size thee in both patterns.
Ready-To-Smock-Bubble
This was a gift from a friend that I smocked with Ellen McCarn’s Tiny Rocking Horses Plate. I can’t find this exact bubble to link but I have linked an Etsy shop with tons of ready-to-smocks here. If you know of any other source for ready-to-smocks I’d love it if you commented with them below!
Creative Needle Allan’s Bubble
Another pattern I just absolutely love. This one is from Creative Needle Magazine March/April 1989, they also released it as a stand alone pattern. I’m going to link it here, but no guarantees that it will stay in stock. The pattern itself has a smocked version on the cover, but you can make it unsmocked like I did by using the inner lining pattern piece as both the fashion fabric and the lining fabric. The red fabric can be found here. The blue gingham fabric can be found here. I love that these fabrics “go” but don’t match. If you look closely at the red fabric, it has a blue line running through the plaid. The boy’s are wearing sizes three and two.
Phew! I think that covers it all! If you need Christmas inspiration for next year, pin this post…I don’t think there’s a pattern I didn’t make! LOL
Merry Christmas everyone, I hope this year has been good to you 🙂
