The Green Taffeta "OOPS" Off-the-Shoulder Christmas Dress

 "On the Twelfth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me Twelve Drummers Drumming. . ."

Ok, I think I'd rather pass on that particular gift. I'll take the 3 french hens, the 5 golden rings,  the 6 geese a-laying (my chickens are on their winter strike right now, so any laying birds would be useful), or even the 8 maids a-milking (Although since all of my goats are currently dried off and pregnant, and even when they are in milk I rarely have 8 needing to be milked at the same time, 8 milk maids *might* be over kill.), but please - not the 12 drummers drumming. That sounds rather loud, and I have enough noise in my life right now, thank you very much!

It's been 5 months of silence on this blog however, so on this twelfth day of Christmas I have come to finally do some "drumming" so to speak and share about. . . Christmas? My Christmas Dress this year? Life? Maybe all three? I honestly can't tell you where this blog post is going to go (the intro has already gone very differently to what I've been rehearsing in my head the past week), so I suppose I'd better just start writing and we'll see where this goes.

I did make myself a Christmas dress this year. I finished it at about midnight, or a little after, the night before our first family Christmas gathering of the year. I made no Christmas gifts this year - but I did make Christmas outfits! Boy did I make Christmas outfits! 

After more Christmases than I had wanted where it was just my husband and I, this year that all changed. Our house is now much fuller and much more noisy than it used to be - and Christmas was much more exciting! 

This year there was a massive pile of toys under the Christmas tree to be unwrapped Christmas morning. 

This year we had kids (or atleast one kid. . .) singing "Joy to the World" in the kids Church Christmas Program.

This year there were more than two stockings hanging from the mantle (though the kids didn't know about their stockings until Christmas morning, because, ummmm, I didn't finish sewing those until Christmas eve - just in time for Santa Clause to fill them)

This year was a whole lot more hectic than last year - and contained a whole lot of answered prayers.

We don't know how long these kiddos will be with us, but we love them - and as I regularly tell our eldest whenever he asks - they'll have a home here as long as they need it. Be that only a little while, or forever.

This year the kids Christmas outfits were all done with days (or even a whole week in one instance!) to spare before they were needed, it was only mine that was done truly last minute - and my incredibly sloppy back zipper application is a testament to that.

Of course, the Christmas outfits were all planned months in advance! I started day dreaming about them probably in September or October (once I'd wrapped my head around the "instant family" situation in our lives and started thinking about the months to come).

I quickly decided that the dresses would be green - because our little lady would look darling in green - and they would be accented with some sort of festive plaid - so the boys could have matching plaid shirts. 

With that in mind, I picked up 4 yards of a Christmas-y cotton and metallic plaid from Hobby Lobby. Then I went to my fabric stash to pick out a solid green green fancy dress fabric to pair it with. After considering multiple options, I finally settled on the remainder of the green taffeta I thrifted years ago and used for the vests my brothers wore in my wedding and one of my sister's prom dresses. It was about time I used this beautiful fabric to make something for myself! 

Now all that was left was to pick a design!

As far as that went, lots of different ideas flitted around in my mind, but I wasn't in love with any of them until I noticed a 1950's style dress on the cover of an audiobook I was listening to.

That wide band framing a bateau neckline, the 3/4 length sleeves, and full skirt - yes! That was exactly what my Christmas dress should be! And I had the perfect pattern for it already in my stash - Butterick 6129.

View C looked like it would be exactly what I was wanting if I made a couple small adjustments.

Slightly longer sleeves, slightly fuller skirt, and slightly lower neckline. Totally doable!

I cut the dress out of green taffeta being careful to add my sleeve length and skirt fullness. Then I used an old flannel sheet to line the whole thing - my flannel house dresses (and this Christmas dress from a couple years ago) are my very favorite things to wear in the winter, so I decided to incorporate that coziness into this year's fancier Christmas Dress. (Honestly, I was tempted to skip the fancy dress this year and make my Christmas Dress out of the green herringbone flannel in the fabric photo a few pictures back, but alas, Joann's did not have enough yardage for me to be able to do that - probably a good thing since using what I already had saved me money.)

I used the thinner, more worn sections of this worn-out flannel sheet to line the parts of the dress that I specifically did not want to be bulky - such as the sleeves.

As for that neckline I wanted to lower, well I made that cut late one night as I was sewing the dress - and I think I was a little over-zealous.

This was not supposed to be an off-the-shoulder dress. Ooops.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I finished my Christmas dress some time after midnight, the night before I had planned to wear it. (And these days with little ones in the house who get up first thing in the morning, me staying up past 10 pm - or even until 10 pm - is quite a feat!) I tried it on. And I hated the neckline. Oh well, too late to fix it now. I hung the dress up and went to bed.

I put on the dress the next morning, and paired it with the red bow belt I made to go with my red scalloped dress a few years back (I'd intended to make a matching plaid belt, but I ran out of time and wanted sleep, lol) I didn't hate it as much as I had the night before (Amazing what a few hours of sleep can do!), but I was still rather insecure about my bare shoulders. So I threw on a black cardigan to wear over it for church. 

That afternoon at our family Christmas gathering however, I decided to remove the cardigan and see what happened - and you know what? The more I wore the dress, the more I liked it!

Off-the-shoulder still wouldn't be my first choice, but I love how elegant this dress feels! 

Honestly, I'm just happy I managed to make myself a Christmas Dress this year - off-the-shoulder neckline, recycled belt, sloppy zipper, and all!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I will try not to let another 5 months pass before I post again, but no promises. My life certainly got busier in 2024, and I can't wait to see what 2025 brings!

Teal Velvet, Sparkly Silver, and Fantastic Sleeves for my Sister

 I've been dragging my feet when it comes to taking down my Christmas decorations. The stockings hung by the fireplace, the Christmas tree set up by the window, the nativity on the mantle, and the goat with the Santa hat hanging out in the entry way - not to mention the various wall hangings and nick-nacks scattered around. But Christmas is over. The historic 12 days were completed last weekend, so it's past time to take it all down. 

I'm going to procrastinate just a few minutes longer however, and take a moment to share about my sister's Christmas dress.

My sister came across some fabulous teal stretch velvet in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby and called me to ask "How much do I need for a Christmas dress?"

"That depends on the style of dress you want," I responded, "What are you thinking?"

"Remember that dress with the really flowy sleeves that you made me? You also made me a Marauders Map tunic from the same pattern? How about a dress like that?" She asked.

I remembered. It was the Lammas Tide pattern by Mother Grimm - I made my sister and I several items from it a few years back. I told my sister how much fabric to buy, and she did so, sending the fabric home with my mom when she went down to visit. My mom got the fabric to me, and the weekend after Thanksgiving I found the Lammas pattern in my file cabinet of printed off PDF patterns and made the dress.

Per my sister's request, I gave the dress the longest, flowy-est sleeves available in the pattern,

My sister also asked if the waistband and neckband on the dress could be metallic silver. I said I'd see what I could do, and thankfully the City Sewing room delivered with a very shiny metallic silver textured knit. The silver stuff didn't have a ton of structure to it, and I was worried it would be itchy against my sister's neck, so I backed it with some gray jersey. (Actually left over from these tops I made for the two of us years ago. It pays to save your fabric scraps!) 

I personally loved how the double neckband looked, a fun element I might just have to remember neck time I sew myself a knit top!

And my sister? 

She was absolutely thrilled when she came home for Christmas and found the dress waiting for her in a closet at my parents' house! She wore it to church on Christmas Eve and to one of our family Christmas gatherings!

I'm glad she found the fabric and requested the dress, it was a lot of fun to supply her with a Christmas Dress again this year!

A Glowing Garden Stroll in Victorian

 For years now my two best friends and I have had a tradition of going to the Botanical Gardens during the Christmas season for the "Garden Glow" - always an enjoyable evening of wondering through and admiring the lights while drinking hot chocolate or apple cider and chatting. The gardens are beautiful, day or night, and seeing them all decorated with Christmas lights is a special kind of thrill!

Last year, as we were preparing to go to the gardens, it crossed my mind that I could dress up for the event. Why not? The gardens were founded in the Victorian era, so why not? I had a couple cozy wool Victorian ensembles in my closet that would be warmer to wear than my standard jeans and jacket - so why not go all-out and dress up for the occasion?

I floated the idea to my two bestfriends, and they were enthusiastic supporters of the idea! So, I did it.

I wore my 1898 winter ensemble to the gardens. With a long sleeve shirt and leggings underneath I was quite warm and cozy - my cheeks and ears were just a touch chilly.

Dressing up certainly added a layer of charm to the evening!

It was totally worth it! So this year, I decided to do it again.

Our group size grew by two, and my costume slightly grew as well - in the back atleast.

I wore my 1884 ice skating dress. 

And once more, the evening was delightful! 

The entirety of the gardens are, of course, stunning. However, a particular highlight for me was touring the founder's Victorian home - all decorated for Christmas!

It was charming! 

Old homes have a special place in my heart - and getting to tour them in costume is just the best!

I'm thankful to my sister-in-law for photographing me in the house.

Pretty lights, good friends, yummy drinks, the evening has always been very enjoyable. A tradition worth repeating year after year.

Dressing up for the occasion? Now that's just the cherry on top!

As we are still within the 12 days of Christmas, 

(and I insist on observing all of them by doing Christmas-y things and keeping my Christmas decorations up until after Epiphany) 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Dress, Jingle All the Way!

 "Mommy, can Aunt Lyssa make me a Christmas Dress that jingles?" my niece asked.

"I don't know if you can do this," my sister-in-law said over the phone, "but she has requested a Christmas Dress that jingles."

If I can't make my niece the exact dress she wants, then what even is the point of sewing for her? Of course I could make her a dress that jingled! I didn't know what it would look like (other than jingley), but I was sure I could make it happen!

I've stuck with fairly casual, kid friendly, easily washable, fabrics for my niece's Christmas dresses thus far, just barely dipping my toes into the fancy fabrics realm with last year's organza trimmed dress. This year however, I thought my niece would appreciate something fancier, almost princess-like. Satin and lace it would be!

 

I had a lovely cranberry colored embroidered net lace in my stash. (I believe I picked it up from the City Sewing Room at some point.) There was only a yard of it, so not a whole lot to work with, but enough to make it a focal point of the dress. (Along with the jingle bells of course!) One of the great things about kids clothes is they require way less fabric than adult clothes! Perfect for the smaller cuts of beautiful fabrics I've collected!

With the feature fabric and jingle bells decided on, I spent weeks pondering the design. How did one make an elegant, jingley, dress? I took to Pinterest to find some inspiration in vintage and historical kids clothes. The above lace child's dress from the early 20th century gave me a starting point. I liked the basque waist, bows, short puffed sleeves, and of course the lace overlay. All it was missing? A good place to attach jingle bells! (Also, I didn't think I had enough cranberry lace to use it for the entire dress. gone are the days I could make my niece a full skirted dress from only 1 yard of fabric. We're firmly in yard and a half territory now.) I found solutions for these two issues in mid-19th century children's dresses.

Those shoulder strap thingys? Called bretelles? (These were a feature on my purple ball gown you may remember. . .) They looked like an excellent base to attach jingle bells to! And, the way they divided up the bodice would give me a good way to break up the lace and make it stretch.

Plan formed, I went to my pattern stash to find a starting point.

I picked McCall's 3023, a recent acquisition from a thrift store. It featured a basque waist like I wanted, a square neckline (my favorite!), and the bodice was already divided up the way I wanted it to be. I would just need to lengthen the skirt and replace the shoulder ruffles with flat bretelles. 

Pattern picked, I went fabric shopping. After considering all the different options at Hobby Lobby, my mom helped me choose a bright gold satin for the bretelles and sleeve bands and a champaign colored satin to go under the cranberry lace. This would be a Christmas Dress fit for a princess!

Along with the fancy fabric, this dress would require some fancy sewing as well. I did more hand sewing on this dress than her previous three Christmas dresses put together! It started with basting together the lace and satin for the center sections of the bodice. . .

And ended with sewing on buttons, shoulder bows, and, of course, Jingle Bells!

I finished the dress in time to give it to my niece at Thanksgiving, so she would have it to wear the whole Christmas season. And she loved it!

I think the face says it all! 

She wore the dress for Christmas and spent the whole day showing off her bells to the whole family, shaking them, and singing "Jingle, Jingle, Jingle!"

As with previous years, I continued the tradition and made an ornament to match the dress. Thankfully I found a cranberry lace trim at a thrift store that worked for the skirt of the ornament! With the lace border at the hem of the dress being so distinctive, I wasn't sure how I was going to replicate it in ornament size! 

My sister-in-law tells me my niece loved hanging all her dresses on the Christmas tree this year, so the ornaments are definitely a tradition I need to continue!

I also wanted to continue the tradition I started last year of making my niece's baby doll a mating Christmas Dress (I loved dressing up like my dolls as a kid!), however, I ran out of time to get the doll's dress done before Christmas. I had it cut out, I just couldn't fit in getting it sewn. (much like my own Christmas dress. . .) So, as of this morning, a week after Christmas, I finished the doll dress. (My first finished sewing project of the new year!) I'll give it to my niece as a belated Christmas gift next time I see her. Sadly it's too late for her and Dolly to match at the Christmas gatherings, but atleast she'll have it for the memories right?

Doll dress aside, I think it's safe to say I made my niece's Jingle Dress dreams come true this Christmas - and I'm not sure I'll be able to top this next Christmas!

Happy New Year!