{"id":52344,"date":"2015-12-15T09:44:19","date_gmt":"2015-12-15T14:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/?p=52344"},"modified":"2015-12-15T03:54:59","modified_gmt":"2015-12-15T08:54:59","slug":"christmas-dress-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2015\/12\/christmas-dress-tradition.html","title":{"rendered":"christmas dress tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month Shea from Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio<\/a> shared her Oliver + S Christmas pajama tradition<\/a> with us. Well, she has another Christmas sewing tradition: dresses! And she is here today to share the ones she has made these past several years. By the way, Shea is also the author of School of Sewing<\/a>, a fantastic sewing book which we will be talking more about tomorrow. Be sure to come back again tomorrow for a chance to win her book! Thanks so much for being here Shea!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Oliver<\/a><\/p>\n

Each year for the last four years, I have sewn an Oliver +S pattern as a Christmas dress for my daughter. I try to not get too wrapped up in holiday sewing projects that I don\u2019t get to truly enjoy the \u201cmaking\u201d part of handmade. Focusing on just a few meaningful projects, I\u2019ve found, is what works best for me. And these Christmas dresses are always at the top of my list.<\/p>\n

I am an easy sell when it comes to cross wovens\u2014 fabrics with different thread colors in the warp and weft. They really let the updated but classic lines in Oliver + S patterns stand out, I think. My tendency to use these types of fabrics really comes shining through when I look at these pictures… not a print in sight! Oops!<\/p>\n

The first Christmas dress I ever made her was a Fairy Tale Dress<\/a>. Oh, man. Did I ever love this dress. In the back of my mind, I wanted it to look like a little girl\u2019s dress in the 1950\u2019s.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Oliver<\/a><\/p>\n

We live in the Midwest, where it can be very cold and snowy at Christmas. I wanted the sleeves to be a little longer, so I swapped out the sleeves and used the 3\/4 length ones found on the Playdate Dress<\/a>, another Oliver + S pattern I had made. This dress was made from Robert Kaufman Interweave Chambray in Pepper. It\u2019s not visible in the photo, but the dress has a black sash\/bow in the back. Add a black collar and a few tiny buttons, and I was happy with her little 1950s-ish dress.<\/p>\n

When she was in kindergarten, I made her a Library Dress<\/a>, a pattern name that thoroughly amused her as she lives for \u201clibrary day.\u201d The fabrics were Robert Kaufman Interweave Chambray in Pepper (again!) and In the Beginning Fabrics Modern Solids in Slate. I took advantage of the invisible zipper modification<\/a> for this dress.<\/p>\n

\"Oliver<\/a><\/p>\n

This was also the year that I fell down the rabbit hole and made a matching dress for her Kit (18-inch) doll. For doll clothes, I like to browse the options at Pixie Faire<\/a>, looking for something that has at least a feature or two that is similar so that I can avoid reinventing the wheel entirely. The Kimono Dress<\/a> fit the bill. A few tweaks to the construction and I had a pretty close match!<\/p>\n

The blue Garden Party Dress<\/a> of 2014 was probably my favorite color palette to use. I am a sucker for blues. These were Studio E Peppered Cottons; the main fabric in Ink. The doll version I made by making the 1930\u2019s Gathered Dress<\/a> from Pixie Faire.<\/p>\n

\"Oliver<\/a><\/p>\n

This year, she requested \u201ca red dress. Because red is the most Christmas-y color, Mom.\u201d So! A red dress it is. Well … red-ish. I used a Peppered Cotton in Garnet and a Westminster shot cotton in Bordeaux to make another Library Dress, this time with short sleeves. I again used the invisible zipper modification for the back. There\u2019s not a matching doll dress yet, but I doubt I make it to Christmas without an official \u201cpretty please, Mom?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Oliver<\/a><\/p>\n

My daughter is learning her way around a sewing machine, so I really enjoy talking about the pattern and fabric options with her as she\u2019s gotten a little older. She now likes to specify design features she\u2019d like (this year it was \u201ca band or sash in the middle\u201d) and I love seeing her get excited as we pick and cut out the fabric.<\/p>\n

As long as she will let me, I will sew Christmas (and birthday and back-to-school) dresses for her. And then, one day… I hope she will sew a dress for herself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shea from Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio is visiting today, sharing her Oliver + S Christmas dress tradition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7455,"featured_media":52345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20687],"tags":[121,149,20642,18,110],"class_list":["post-52344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-fairy-tale-dress","tag-garden-party","tag-holiday","tag-inspiration","tag-library-dress"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dressTITLE.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5jZS5-dCg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54889,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2016\/04\/first-communion-fairy-tale-dress.html","url_meta":{"origin":52344,"position":0},"title":"first communion fairy tale dress","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"April 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Shea is sharing a very unique Fairy Tale Dress that she sewed for her daughter that will now become a special family heirloom. She was inspired by a dress that her mother wore in the 1950s.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/FirstCommunionTITLE.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":52351,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2015\/12\/a-holiday-book-giveaway-school-of-sewing.html","url_meta":{"origin":52344,"position":1},"title":"a holiday book giveaway: school of sewing","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"December 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Enter our giveaway to win a copy of the School of Sewing book by Shea Henderson.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/School-of-Sewing-Cover.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63226,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2017\/11\/holiday-sewing-inspiration-for-kids.html","url_meta":{"origin":52344,"position":2},"title":"holiday sewing inspiration for kids","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"November 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Sew fun and festive holiday clothes for your little one using Oliver + S patterns. 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Merry making!","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/holidaypjF.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":51908,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2015\/12\/fabric-ideas-for-holiday-sewing.html","url_meta":{"origin":52344,"position":4},"title":"fabric ideas for holiday sewing","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"December 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Fabric inspiration to sew fun and festive holiday clothes and pajamas for your little one using Oliver + S patterns.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/holidayfabricsTITLE.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":58785,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2016\/12\/holiday-sewing-round-up.html","url_meta":{"origin":52344,"position":5},"title":"holiday sewing round-up","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"December 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. 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