Mommy & Me Christmas

Hello, and welcome to my stop on the Mommy & Me Christmas Blog Tour. Make sure you check out the other stops on the tour, and don't forget the giveaway courtesy of Petite Stitchery & Co, Seamingly Smitten, 5 out of 4 Patterns and Aurora Designs.

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Christmas in Australia is a little different to the Northern Hemisphere. For us, Christmas is about sunshine, cherries, nectarines, lychees, pavlova, ham, the beach, sunscreen and sundresses. I don't know about your family, but we are always busy over the holidays going to lunches, dinners and afternoon teas. There's always another function to go to - catching up with both sides of the family, extended family, old friends, new friends, friends of friends.

So I made up these dresses with the endless stream of lunches in mind - sundresses that are a little matchy (but not too much). Beautiful, but easy to wear. Not super fitted - leaving room for dessert.

We're a little laid back about Christmas clothing down here (although, the Christmas rashies doing the rounds this year look like fun), so I didn't go all out with Christmas fabrics.  Instead, I opted for these natural-tone based quilting cottons.

The inspiration for these dresses was the Laneway Dress by Jennifer Lauren Handmade. Earlier in the year I made a version in flannelette, that was just lovely, but too warm to wear in Summer. I bought this fabric as an option if the flannelette didn't work out. I just loved the vintage feel of the fabrics, and felt that they'd be perfect for this dress.

Rather than be completely matchy-matchy I made the most of the feature collar, and reversed the fabrics between the two dresses. I really like this concept. We get to have matching dresses without looking totally coordinated.

There isn't a girl's pattern for the Laneway Dress, but I was able to take the technique for constructing the front collar, and applied it to s dress pattern I already had.  For Miss 6's dress, I combined Tie Dye Diva's* Perfect Party Dress bodice with the circle skirt from La Tulipe (also Tie Dye Diva). The plain, fully lined bodice of the Perfect Party Dress leant itself well to adaptation, and I figured the circle skirt would be more like the a-line skirt of the Laneway (with a bit more twirlability). If I had more time, I could had redrawn the neckline on La Tulipe, and added some sleeves, but I'll save that one for another day.

Adding the collar at the front involved a bit of trial and error. I started off with a bodice, tried it on Miss 6, and added the collar where I thought it should go. The position was still a little off, so I marked up the adjustments on that toile, and transferred them to the final version when sewing it up.

While the Laneway has it's beautiful v-back, with an invisible zipper, I made the most of the two fabrics for the girl's dress.  I covered snaps with the lining fabric, and they look so sweet. Unfortunately I couldn't find any more buttons for her collar (not even some pearl beads that would have worked), so those are on my list for the next time I make it to the fabric store.

As I expected, this girl loves the idea of having a dress that 'matches' Mummy's. After our photo shoot, we wore our dresses to church, and had so many compliments. Not everyone noticed that the dresses matched. But some did, and heaps of people were impressed regardless.

So what about those folk who do have a wintry Christmas? Don't write this style of dress off out of hand.  Remember that flannelette version I sewed up earlier. Just imagine a comfy, stylish dress in Christmas flannel (I checked, and it does exist - not seen much around here though). We have rather mild winters, but paired with some thick tights, a cardigan and jacket, my flannel dress was surprisingly warm. So I reckon you could totally give it a go.

As for us, we'll be busy in our cool and stylish dresses, at BBQ's lunches and maybe even brunches these holidays. We hope you enjoy yours too.

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We would like to thank our Mommy and Me Christmas Outfit Blog tour sponsors! Please enter to win wonderful prizes in our Giveaway below!

         

Also, please visit all of the amazing Mommy and Me Christmas Outfit Inspirations in our Mommy and Me Christmas Blog Tour hosted by Seams Sew Lo below!

1. December 4th: Seams Sew Lo
2. December 5th: Katewillknit
3. December 6th: Tenille's Thread
4. December 7th: That's Sew Lily
5. December 8th: Stitched by Jennie
6. December 9th: Petite Stitchery & Co
7. December 10th: Seams Sew Lo
8. December 11th: kathys kwilts and more
9. December 12th: Sewing with Sarah
10. December 13th: Octaves of Color
11. December 14th: My Crazy Crafty Beautiful Life
12. December 15th: I Have Purple Hair
13. December 16th: Nu Me NuYou
14. December 17th: Frullemieke
15. December 18th: Sewing Blue
16. December 19th: Auschick Sews
17. December 20th: Violets and Jewels
18. December 21st: Seams Like Style
19. December 22nd: Aurora Designs

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* This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase I receive a small commission at no cost to yourself. The opinions, sewing and careful lifting techniques are all my own.