I tried to keep my December sewing to a minimum this year, which was really very nice. Christmas clothes weren’t originally on my list, but then I saw the adorable plaid Art Museum vest Elizabeth (of the lovely blog Lizzieville) made for her little boy. She mentioned in the post that her daughter asked for a dress to match, and suddenly my kids needed matching Christmas outfits, too. And so, I sewed.
Elizabeth was actually the inspiration for the dress, too – I really loved her Library Christmas dress from last year, and I also came across this beautiful corduroy/Liberty version via my Oliver + S Flickr group search. So, despite having just made a Library dress (and swearing off this view), I decided on View B in baby cord with a floral band…but then I never found a good floral. I almost scrapped the whole thing, but at the last minute I looked through the piles of fabric already on my shelf and found this striped shot cotton.
I can’t recall why I bought this fabric in the first place, but I’m pretty sure it ended up lost in the stacks because the colors reminded me too much of Christmas. So anyway, long story short, I ended up with dark gray Kaufman cord, some forgotten striped shot cotton, and flat piping in a green Modern Solid. I sewed a size 5 lengthened to a 6, and also lengthened the sleeves by an inch. Lila isn’t a big fan of 3/4 sleeves so I wanted to pass them off as long sleeves. She won’t wear them rolled up, but I do love the notched cuffs.
There wasn’t enough corduroy for the facings (I squeezed the whole dress into a wide yard of fabric with some very careful planning), so those are cut from the shot cotton. Luckily Liesl has you understitch all the facing seams, so there’s no chance they’ll be peeking out when they shouldn’t. But they do make for a nice surprise inside.
Having made both views, I think the collar must give the neckline a little more structure and hold it in place, because the neckline on this dress gapes a little more than the collared version. Nothing too serious, but I did notice a difference.
And again with all those buttons down the back. But I was happy to find these little black and green ones.
Now, on to that bow tie.
I read through just about everything the internet had to offer on the topic of making your own bow tie, but in the end I used Delia‘s free Mix and Match Bow Tie pattern and tutorial. I knew I could trust Delia. It was super simple and quick to sew – in fact, I bet I spent more time learning how to tie it than actually sewing it. But thanks to YouTube and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Lila and I must have watched this video twenty times, she thought it was hilarious), tying a bow tie is now on my list of life accomplishments.
Apparently bow ties are usually cut on the bias, but since shot cotton already has some stretch, I cut it on the grain. And I used velcro as my back closure method rather than swim suit hooks, just to make sure it was good and adjustable. It’s a little droopy (interfacing could have solved that) but I love it just the same.
Who knew I’d ever get so excited about a bow tie? And to think, I was so broken up about not having two girls to sew for…this is totally just as great. Maybe even better. Maybe. Sort of. Whatever, it’s great.
They were pretty cute together. I’m officially a fan of coordinated holiday attire.
There were also some eleventh hour semi-coordiated Christmas pajamas that I’ll share just as soon as I can get my children to cooperate for photos. Hope everyone’s holidays were happy – enjoy these last few days of the year!
I so admire your beautiful work and have been following your posts on WordPress since I developed my blog page with them earlier on this year. If these beautiful creatures are your children, they too make your works of creativity come to life and compliment your ability. May all your creative desires come true for 2015 Cxx
Love the library dress Gail – the shot cotton is lovely, and I love it in the cord. The bow tie is pretty cute too 🙂 – Merry Christmas!
I love your fabric choices for you library dresses.
I love it all, Gail! Such a sweet dress- the corduroy is perfect. Seriously cute children you have there. Hope you guys had a great holiday!
Using corduroy for the Library Dress is such a great idea. What a beautiful dress! And the matching bow tie is pretty awesome 🙂
Oh my goodness! What an adorable pair! Everything is beautifully sewn and the colors are just perfect. Thanks for sharing/using my pattern and for your kind words. 🙂
Awww SO GREAT!! You just make such beautiful clothing for those kiddos Gail!
I love your blog!!!
Beautiful and as always fabulous attention to detail.
Adorable! Happy new year!
So cute!! I love everything you make. And your kiddos are so adorable. You really motivate me.
Oh man I love both of these! Corduroy and the striped shot cotton are genius – sorta casual and sorta fancy. And that bow tie is adorable! I did a similar thing with my Christmas sewing – one fancy dress and some slapdash pajama bottoms. Super cute. Happy holidays you guys!
So very sweet, gorgeous sewing, as always.
I love your sewing and the two of them together, matching, is just adorable! Corduroy is such a clever idea for the library dress and I love that striped shot cotton. I did find that the neckline was a bit open and prone to gapping so maybe next time I’ll try a collar version. Plus little Oscar is the bow tie- love it! Dressing little boys is fun. But dressing sisters (and hand me downs!) would have been fun, too. And- thank you for your kind words! Given how much your sewing has inspired me it is a huge honor.
Oh, these are just gorgeous!! Just love the gray with the shot cotton!! So perfect. And I’m glad you’ve come round to boy sewing! I knew you’d get sucked in eventually. I think boy sewing very much suits your somewhat understated style, actually. It’s all in the details, right?
Gail, O has grown up so much! He looking so little boy now vs baby! That bow tie! Could not be cuter – or any more charming. And grey corduroy + stripes. Now that is just brilliant! You nailed it.
Oh they do look cute together. I love the Library dress, and, as always happens when I visit your blog, now I want to sew one straight away.
Hope you had a lovely Christmas. best wishes for 2015
What a beautiful dress – I love the look of that corduroy, and the striped sash is the perfect complement. Cute bow tie, too 🙂
Love the dress! My sister says 4 & 6 year old nieces (also PDX girls) need more long sleeved dresses and I’ve got 2.5 yards of purple corduroy that has been sitting around for far too long. Now I just need to decided which polka dots from the stash to use for the inside… Thanks for inspiring my Saturday!