Festive frocks!

Hi there! Hope you’re enjoying the run up to Christmas? I’m slowly starting to unwind now I’ve finished work for the year and school has finished.  Now if I could just get my eldest to relax a little, talk about worn out!

It’s just a quick post today to talk about 3 dresses which I’ve already posted on Instagram.  I fell victim to temptation when @lisalooby1234 posted a photo on Instagram of the new jersey fabrics she’d received from Fabric Styles, a website I hadn’t come across before.

I went and had a nosey and, at around £4 a metre, had soon added 3 different designs to my shopping basket.  I chose a metre each of a red print with snowmen and a black print with Santa, and 2 metres of a black fabric with a reindeer print. Clearly sewing for the girls was the excuse, but inspired by those skater dress adverts which keep appearing on Facebook (is that just me?) I decided to join the fun.

I quickly made a version for each of the girls, using the Kitschy Coo Skater Dress, which I’ve used before last year. I once again went with the actual measurements of my girls.  The table from the pattern indicates that, for a chest size of 25″, a size 5/6 should be made and, for a chest size of 23″, a size 3/4 should be made.

Both of these are at least one size name if not 2 below what I’d normally make for the girls but I went with it, and I’m very glad I did.  The dresses I have will probably fit the girls next Christmas as well, if not the one after.  But they are very pleased with them and they are wearable, if not a little long.

I should mention that my 6 year old girl normally wears a size 7/8 so she is very tall for her age; little sister is a little shorter proportionately, but still one of the tallest at her nurseries. Be warned before running this pattern up for your kids!

For myself, I made the grown up version of the same pattern, the Lady Skater dress. I’d been resisting buying this, thinking I could make do with the Moneta for stretch dresses, but I’ve really got to prefer the non-gathered waist this pattern offers and so I gave in.

And I’m quite pleased that I did.  The pattern, like its little sister, comes together easily.  I prefer the finish I get with my usual method of neck binding ( I normally sew both shoulder seams, sew the neck band into a circle, and then stretch to meet the neckline space as sewing; this pattern has you sew one shoulder seam, attach the neck binding and then complete the circle) but that’s easy to replace.

I have already made a second version of this; the adjustments I’ve made make the fit spot on for me, but this version is totally wearable.  I’m just kicking myself for not adding pockets: all dresses should have pockets!

Anyway, for a Christmas dress, it’s a lot of fun, particularly with a gold belt and my new gold Clarks brogues.  Also, it’s a lot comfier in warm rooms (like, say, the school’s Christmas Fair) than a big wooly comedy jumper, so win all round!

So, at long last, I have done what I said I would never, ever do and made a dress which allows me to match my children.  Ain’t Christmas grand?

Becca x