Cute and Casual Christmas

I (Major Moma) love to make extravagant and impractical clothes for my children during the holidays.  (all holidays!)  But my normal default in life is to be practical and this Christmas, that side won.

My eldest daughter's Christmas dress from last year still fit pretty well and Eli has not worn his blazer as often as he said he would, so I didn't want to make another one.  (I also thought it would still fit ... but he grew recently and we could not get it on him this Sunday.)  The baby, Isa, has plenty of dresses, but she really does need some basics.  So, I succumbed to the practical and made her an outfit that could be mixed and matched with a lot of her existing clothes.

I modified a T-shirt pattern from the book, Sewing for Toddlers into a tunic with a ruffle at the hem and a mock-neck neckline.  I used some crushed velvet knit I had in my stash so that it would a be a pretty little tunic to be worn with leggings later on.

For the pants, I designed a pair of tapered slacks with no pockets.  I wanted less bulkiness and she does not use pockets yet.  I also included two pleats in the front and elastic in the back.  The closure is a fly zipper with snap.  I had a wide hem so that it could cuff up and have plenty of growing room.  However, I made them too long, so they have to be rolled a second time.  Thus, no finished looking cuff... until the next growth spurt.

 

Then, to make it Christmassy, I added a wrap top out of double-sided quilted fabric.  It is sort of a vest/ top and simply pulls over her head. (my own design)

 

 

  The top/vest has tiny poinsettias on one side and large poinsettias on the other side.

Isa really liked the outfit. In fact, as I worked on it, she kept on trying to steal the pants and put them on.  That was really funny to watch as she has not yet developed the skills to dress herself.

The top/vest clearly will only be worn a couple of times.  She wore it on Sunday to church and will likely wear it with a dress tonight (Christmas Eve).  So it was not very practical; but it was super easy and I used up scraps I already owned to make it.  But I think the pants and top will be used a lot.  Especially those pants as I should be able to get a whole year's worth of wearing since they are a little big.  (for more pictures, check out my flicker site)

And, that little flower on her head?  I crocheted that!  I am learning to crochet and hope to share some of my projects soon.  I made my eldest one too and hot glued them to old barrettes.

I have decided that this is my Inspiration Point project, since it is one of the few Christmas things I have sewn this month.

I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas and that your holiday crafting is fun and inspired!

Merry Christmas!!!

 

P.S.  I have entered this into the Sewing for Children contest on www.patternreview.com.  If you like this outfit, feel free to come over and vote!