A Christmas Kyoko

I have a to-do list about a mile long, so now's the perfect time to ignore it and blog, right?  Just a quick post about E's Christmas dress, which she wore yesterday when Santa came to her class Christmas party.  It's the Modkid Kyoko in a 3 for width and 5 for height, which worked out perfectly, just like it did for last year's Sydney that she still wears.

I made my own bias tape again, because I'm a sucker for a perfect match, even though I find it annoying to make.  For a solid top, you could probably just get away with turning the hem under and topstitching it, but I wanted that little bit of extra detail.

I mostly followed the directions as written, other than taking the easy way out by applying the bias tape to the neckline and hem just by topstitching instead of doing it the "right" way.  I did do the sleeve binding as instructed and it was pretty slick.

 I made a self-fabric bow for the obi instead of using ribbon.

This is probably the most accurate color-wise.  It's a bit of a darker red.

I also thought it called for some fancy-schmancy hair clip of some kind, so I made a fabric flower like this with a fabric-covered button for the middle.

She wore the pantalets from her Raggedy Ann costume underneath for some added warmth.  The top comes down pretty low on her, so she wore a long-sleeved tee also.

Time to get cracking on my list!

A Visit from St. Nicholas

I seem to remember that after last year's sewing of the Christmas jammies from St. Nick, I decided it wasn't worth the time and effort to sew footie pajamas.  But then I found this super cute Charlie Brown Christmas fleece and couldn't pass up the opportunity for the kids to have matching PJs, so I found myself working on them at the last minute once again. 

I don't learn.

The Peek-a-Boo Classic Footed Pajamas pattern has been updated since last year, adding more sizes and a half-zip option.  The full-zip is easier with E, so I made that version again, but I think the half-zip would be much simpler.  I ripped out the part on the leg where the end of the zipper meets the inseam three times.  When my fourth attempt was still puckered, I decided that no one else would even notice, so I left it.

O's pants are also the same as last year, just a size bigger.  They're the large (size 10) pants from Kwik Sew's Sewing for children, with the side seam eliminated and the legs widened 3/4" on each side.  He's a huge fan of all the Charlie Brown specials, so he thought they were pretty cool -- as far as pajamas go.

Have you ever sewn footie pajamas?  Worth it or not? I find them kind of putzy to sew, but think they're just so cute when they're done, so I'm currently undecided.  I guess if I stick to just making them once a year, it's not so bad.  Ha.