Co-ordinating Tartan Christmas Outfits!
Five days before Christmas Day, I was out with my friend C and we went into Boyes to have a gander at the fabric and the yarn. I spied some extremely Christmassy-looking tartan fabric, and had the bright idea of making Little Tweedie a dress to wear on Christmas Day. This was Friday lunchtime, and we had already planned to go away on Sunday and return on Monday. I did wonder if I might be pushing it to get the dress made in this time, but I can sew pretty quick so I thought it would be fine – and this was seconded by my husband through an exchange of texts something along the lines of:
Me: Shall I buy fabric to make Little Tweedie a dress to wear on Christmas Day?
Him: Yes.
Me: Ok, I just thought maybe you’d think it was a bad idea so close to Christmas.
Him: It’ll only take you three minutes or something.
As I was grabbing hold of the bolt of fabric, I suddenly realised I could make Baba Tweedie some matching trousers! I got all carried away after that. Little Tweedie’s dress would be lined, I would make it long sleeved, with a contrast collar, and a ribbon sash, and a fake net-petticoat trim, and I would also add some tartan applique to a baby vest to match Baba Tweedie’s trousers… and they would look adorable…
Baba Tweedie’s trousers, with matching applique vest.
I got everything I needed there and then, but didn’t start sewing until naptime on Saturday. First of all I needed to hem a dress I had been working on, so I got that done and then started on Baba Tweedie’s trousers. Amazingly, I haven’t sewn any clothing at all for him yet! Boys are less exciting to sew for, and the teeny tiny sizes from 0-12 months don’t really last that long, and I rarely have fabric that is suitable for boys. These are my three excuses.
The cutest backside you ever did see!
I chose the ‘Mr. Two-Face Pants’ trouser pattern from the book ‘Sewing for Boys’. These are meant to have each leg sewn in a different fabric, but I ignored that part of the design. The trousers were really easy to sew as they are basically like pyjama bottoms. The cute pocket detail is a nice touch, although because the pattern is designed for knits there is no allowance for finishing the raw edges of the pocket – they just have you sew it straight on. I bias bound the edges in a contrasting colour and that worked well. I got Baba Tweedie’s trousers finished by Saturday night, and I also made a start on Little Tweedie’s dress too (New Look 6309) – I got the main bodice sewn up, and I made and attached the collar.
Little Tweedie’s dress
On Sunday we went away and we didn’t get back until mid-afternoon on Monday 23rd December. My in-laws were due to arrive 24 hours later for Christmas, and I hadn’t tidied or cleaned, marzipanned or iced the Christmas Cake, made mince pies or wrapped a single present. Eek! I got half an hour of naptime sewing done and then had to wait until they were in bed before I could continue. I stayed up until 2:10am, and got her dress finished and all the presents wrapped, and felt like a zombie the next day!
I altered the sleeve length so it would hit Little Tweedie’s elbow – more practical for her (no need to roll up her sleeves), but still a decent enough length that no cardigan would be required. I think it looks really cute on her.
Yes, yes, I did. I got her a toy sewing machine for Christmas! 🙂
I didn’t bother with the ribbon sash, because in the shop at the last minute I changed from green ribbon to red, but the red looked wrong with the green contrast collar. I might get some green next time and add it on.
I also didn’t end up attaching the net-ruffle trim. It was the very last step (this bit isn’t included in the pattern – it was my own idea), and I measured the skirt and made the strip and pinned it on, and then realised I had only measured the width of the dress hem rather than the circumference, so I only had half of what I needed. At that point, I decided to call it a day!
Sewing these last-minute things did stress me out and it impacted our Christmas preparation significantly. Little Tweedie’s dress was more complicated to sew than the ones I can whip up in one night (although I suppose two nights is not that bad!) – the collar and the sleeves are both really fiddly, even more so than adult-sized collars and sleeves, because they are so small!
Anyway, when they were both wearing their outfits on Christmas Day, none of that mattered because they just looked heartbreakingly adorable and gorgeous 🙂
Mr Tweedie and the Tweedie children on Christmas Day 🙂
Comments are closed.
Thread Carefully 
I was about to ask where her feet went until I figured out her toes were on the ground! They both look so cute and christmassy! Nothing shouts Christmas like tartan.
How did the sewing machine go down?
x
Really well! It doesn’t actually sew, but she asked for a bobbin and a scrap of fabric to pretend, and she said she wanted to make a dress for me! 🙂 x
They look really cute. Greetings from Holland,
Thanks! Hello Holland! 🙂
Oh my gosh, that’s adorable! She’s such a lovely child 🙂 xx
They both look adorable! Love the tartan.
Thanks Liza Jane. Hope Baby Jane enjoyed her first Christmas.
What a super mum (Supermum!) you are. Both Little Tweedies look adorable, you must be so proud. You’ve even had time to blog! Hope you’ve caught up on your sleep. When our sons were young I made them dungarees from my old, denim jeans. Fortunately, the wide leg look was in fashion, so giving plenty of fabric to play with. I hope your bubs appreciate the designer patterns!
That sounds lovely! I have caught up on my sleep now – thanks to family being around to help out, and husband actually taking time off work for once! I think Little Tweedie takes it for granted a bit, it’s just completely normal to her that her mum can sew dresses in a matter of days! When she gets a bit older she’ll hopefully appreciate the effort a bit more. Until then I’ll just have to keep blogging! 😉
How cute! Isn’t it funny how sometimes we go overboard when we are on a deadline? Regardless, I think the pictures made it worth the tiredness the next day, and that’s more important than a spotless house anyway! 😉
Definitely. Garments last months. A clean house only lasts a few hours!
You can get your house to stay clean with little ones for a few hours?! I NEED TO KNOW YOUR SECRET!! 😉
Haha, only if it’s directly before a nap!
They both look look so cute! I am so impressed at how quickly you sewed two whole outfits. Hope you had a great Christmas, despite the lack of mince pies!
The mince pies got made just in time for Santa! Hope you had a good Christmas too xxx
*squee* They look so adorable!
Aaaw thank you! Probably could do with a bit more time next time though!