January is almost over, and I haven’t even written about my Christmas sews for 2021! Oh well.
For Christmas, I decided early on to try my hand at linen again. Part of it was because I struggled with linen the first time, swore I’ll never use it again, but then got sewing envy from seeing other folks in my sewing community posting about their linen makes. So I ordered the fabric early, had some time off from work in early December, and planned to finish my Christmas sewing by mid-December.
Of course, that did not happen.
In the end, I was still sewing until very late to complete this on time for our Christmas service. When we got to church, both kids were not feeling well, so we just took a few quick photos, headed home to let them rest, and gave them both COVID antigen rapid tests (which was negative).
I originally wanted the boys to be in green and the girls in red. But our boy decided he wants to be matching with his sister instead (“Grown Ups Team” in green and “Kids Team” in red) so I ordered fabric accordingly. But when the fabric came, he decided he wanted to wear green instead, so now I have a LOT of leftover green fabric 😂. Not going to waste since I’ve always wanted an all-green outfit for myself anyway.
Here are some details of our Christmas outfits –
FABRIC
French linen (190gsm) in #47 (red) and #66 (green) from Big and Brave Fabrics
PATTERNS
For my husband: Fairfield Button Up Shirt by Thread Theory
One of my most used patterns. I’ve made it so many times I’ve lost count already. Nevertheless, I still get frazzled by the different seam allowances used for the flat-felled seams and I still can’t finish a shirt without reading through the sewalong and struggling through several steps. I always make this in short sleeves , which was my only modification.
For me: Anza Jumpsuit and Dress by Itch to Stitch
When I was younger, I avoided wearing bright colors, especially red, because I was always teased about being too tan. (“Wag kang magsuot ng red, lalo kang mangingitim.” / “Don’t wear red, you’ll look even darker.”) It took years but I got over that, and now that I’ve learned to accept and love my natural skin color, I wear the colors that make me happy, like this bright and cheery red. As for the pattern, I didn’t have time to make the adjustments I should have, but I’m excited to try this pattern again very soon.
For my girl: Ocean Breeze Top and Dress by Ellie and Mac (affiliate link)
I’m a pattern tester for Ellie and Mac and most of the patterns I’ve made is by this designer, so I intentionally sewed this last because I knew it would fit her well and I wouldn’t need to make any changes. I wasn’t wrong. I bought this pattern years ago, and I realized she was about to outgrow styles like this so I decided to use it for her Christmas dress.
For my boy: Cool Shirt by Frocks and Frolics
When I was a beginner sewist, I wanted to make a shirt for my boy for his first birthday. But the instructions in the pattern I got from a different designer was not clear enough, and I really struggled through it. In the end, I gave up and didn’t think about making another shirt until I saw a recommendation for this shirt pattern. I bought it, watched the tutorial, and finally figured out how to make a shirt. I’ve made this a couple of times, but this is the first time I made it as long sleeves.
It has become a tradition for us to wear matching Christmas outfits since I’ve learned how to sew. I’ll be doing this until the kids grow up and ask me to stop.
Sleepy Flamingo 