A Christmas Jumper for Me & A Matching Coat for Archie

It has become a long standing tradition that I make a Christmas themed dress in December. 

This year, I was fairly certain that I wanted to use this holly printed flannel.  I even got a head start on things when I cut into this project the first week in December, but somehow, time got away from me and I was rushing to finish the dress a few days before the holiday.  

I also planned to make a matching blouse to wear with it, and I did finish the blouse - it just wasn't the right choice for this jumper.

I did, however, make Archie a matching Christmas coat, so all things considered, I would call it a win.

As far as the jumper goes, I am pretty happy with the result.  I could have lined the dress (especially since I knew that I would be wearing a sweater underneath it at some point).  But honestly, it's still a fun garment, and if it doesn't lay as perfectly as it could have with a rayon lining, I'm not going to be mad about it.

I did make my standard alteration of taking a wedge of length out of the back bodice.  It almost looks like I could have removed even more length, but that might also have something to do with the sweater that I am wearing more than anything else.

It's not the most interesting vintage reproduction that I have ever seen, but it is a classic silhouette with an added bit of interest with the self-fabric wrap belt.

One thing to keep in mind about the pattern is that the skirt is drafted extra long.  I think the facing piece that I added to the hemline worked quite nicely, and I might use the same construction method if I make this again.

Keep in mind that if you are running short on fabric, you just might have enough if you shorten that hemline.  I would guess that most people under six feet tall aren't going to need nearly the amount of skirt length as it is drafted if you are going for a knee length dress as is seen in the cover art. 

And if anyone was wondering . . . Archie is enjoying his new wardrobe.  

He may be slightly difficult to wrangle in front of a camera, but he is an adorable little rascal that is happy to have an additional layer on when it's chilly outside.

Dress:  Made by me, Butterick 6955
Archie's Coat:  Made by me, Butterick 4885
Sweater:  Banana Republic
Earrings:  Gift
Shoes:  Miss L Fire "Gabrielle"
Tights:  Amazon

Merry Christmas, Archie!

Last month when I was looking for coat patterns for Archie, I pulled out two options that I thought would work nicely for him.  The first, Simplicity 2696, turned out great with a couple of minor alterations.  I also wanted to try out Butterick 4885 to see which would be a better base pattern for future warm weather options for The Pup.  

I had plenty of leftover fabric from my Christmas jumper, and I also had some wool batting leftover from a quilt project that was taking up space in the sewing room.  I have also been wanting a walking foot for my Bernina machine for some time, and now seemed as good a time as any to splurge on the sewing machine accessory to make another quilted coat for Archie.

And my goodness does that walking foot make a difference!  Machine quilted items have never turned out so well for me, so that was an absolute win.

The Butterick pattern, on the other hand, was not such a great fit.  This design is much more roomy for its size.  The Simplicity was a little long, but the fit through the chest seemed to be much more in line with the sizing.  I was suspicious of the wide front opening of the Butterick pattern, but I decided to trust the process and move forward.

But the neck opening is just way too wide and scooped out for Archie's build.

The pocket details are adorable, and I could always transfer that to another pattern.  You can see his entire harness front while wearing this draft.  I don't mind the visibility, but this just isn't a great fit.

I did alter the pattern construction since I had quilted my fabric and there was no need to line it.

That just meant removing the seam allowance.

With this change, the collar piece doesn't look exactly like the original, but I still think it works and adds a bit of charm.

For his first outing, the fit did not seem to cause any issues, but that evening, Archie was walking a bit funny and seemed to be tripping.  At one point, one of his little legs even managed to come right out of the neck opening.

That definitely needed to be fixed, and I put it aside for a couple of days.  It was silly to spend so much time quilting and making all of the little details before really testing the fit, but I was just too excited to make him a matching outfit.

After picking it back up, I realized that I could fill in the neck with a leftover piece of the quilted fabric to minimize the fitting issues and hopefully make this a wearable garment.

The collar no longer sits at the "neckline," but overall, it's still pretty cute.

Thanks, in large part, to the furry fella inside it.

So I guess all of that quilting was worth it!

And it's the thing that finally made me purchase the darn walking foot . . . so overall, a great success!

Coat:  Made by me, Butterick 4885

Muted Reds & Greens

I was never sure about the combination of this plaid print with the very bright red berries on my Christmas jumper.  In the end, I didn't want to pair the two items, so I ended up wearing them separately.  Which is fine.  I don't need much of an excuse to wear my quilted skirt, and this was an excellent one.

As for the blouse, I do think that it will make a nice addition to my wardrobe.  I have a jumper in a similar green hue that will work nicely with the plaid, as a matter of fact.  

I have also been reminded that I wanted to make myself another quilted skirt at some point.

Now that I have a walking foot in my arsenal, that project is sounding a whole lot more feasible and appealing.

But as for the blouse . . . sizing up worked fine, although if I make this up again, I would probably take out some of the excess fabric through the waistline.

And the dart placement on this particular design is really, really high.  I don't think it's all that noticeable in a somewhat busy print, but it was even out of place on my dress form, which has to be a first.  It was probably a drafting error, except that if I scrutinize the illustrations, it almost looks like that dart is pointing above the illustration's apex . . . or maybe I'm overthinking it.

I'm not completely sold on the raglan sleeve, but it's nice to change things up and I don't believe that I have a raglan style blouse in my closet.  Coats, yes . . . blouse, no.  

The short sleeved version might also be nice to try at some point.  But overall, I'm glad that this printed plaid finally f0und its place in my closet.

Blouse:  Made by me, Simplicity 9818
Skirt:  Made by me, Simplicity 8458
Shoes:  Memery "Everyday Pump"
Earrings:  Etsy

Raglan in Plaid

I was expecting to make a red knit top to wear with my Christmas jumper, but after the scarlet dye turned the fabric more maroon than red, I ditched that idea.  None of my stashed fabric prints worked all that well with the dress, but I did come across this plaid print which wanted to be made into a blouse.  Simplicity 9818 was slated to be made out of a couple of warm weather appropriate prints earlier in the year, but that fell through, and the 3/4 sleeved version seemed like a good choice for the red and gold plaid print, so I got started.

The pattern instructions call for worked or machine buttonholes, but I thought that bound buttonholes would be a better choice, so that was one of my first steps.

And somehow I didn't have any appropriate red buttons, so I just covered some with self-fabric.

After seeing the finished garment measurements, I decided to size up instead of doing a full bust adjustment because I am lazy.  As expected, the torso is slightly more blousy than I usually go for, but it definitely works.

I did manage to get the front plaid to match up, which is always nice.

The neck closes with a small button and thread loop, which leaves three visible buttons at center front.

And don't look too closely at center back because I somehow forgot to center the plaid.  Thankfully, I did realize my mistake before cutting out my collar pieces, so I did the same off center placement so it's (hopefully) not obvious while it's being worn!  I can't say it's the most exciting garment that I've ever made, but it will certainly have a place in my wardrobe.

The Holly & The Ivy

I purchased this fabric on sale last year after the holiday had passed.  It's an odd textile that is 100% cotton and feels like a brushed flannel, except that it is much heavier than the flannels that I have come across.  It's also incredibly wide - I think it's about 90" wide.  And I have no idea what it was originally intended for . . .

I thought it might make a nice holiday jumper, and I was curious to see how I liked Butterick 6955, so it seemed like a good pairing.

The design is a basic bodice and skirt with a standard facing.  There is some top-stitching involved, and I suppose the most interesting thing about the pattern are the ties that are stitched into the side seams that wrap from the front bodice to the back and close with a buckle.

The fabric itself was incredibly easy to work with and didn't fray much at all.  Even so, I did bind raw edges with seam binding, and I did add a fusible interfacing to the facing pieces.

The armholes were finished with bias strips as suggested by the pattern, which worked fine.

I had very little of my matching thread left, so I did construct things in a different order than suggested by the given instructions so that I could save my topstitching thread until I absolutely needed it.  I didn't want the armholes to stretch out, so adding the bias strip early on seemed like a wise decision.

One thing that surprised me was the length of the skirt.  It is quite long, given the pattern illustration.  The suggested hem was 3" but that was going to be a pain to deal with considering my thicker fabric choice.  In the end, I cut off 5" from the bottom of the skirt and used it as a facing piece.  Because the wrong side of the fabric is white, this ended up being a happy accident.  The faced hemline turned out much better than it would have with a simple folded up hem.

As for the buckle, I didn't have anything that I like stashed away that would fit the ties as drafted.  I ended up purchasing two brass buckles that were 2" wide to decided which shape I preferred.  The oval shape won out, and I covered it with a bias strip of self-fabric.  I used to do this a lot to make a covered buckle, and I think that it adds a nice texture as opposed to the standard covered buckle kits.

The fabric does wrinkle a bit more than I like, so it may not have been the perfect choice for this pattern, but it certainly is a comfortable garment to wear.

I'm not completely sold on the design, but if I find another fabric that is suitable, I might have to make myself another version.