Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Outfit 67: 2013-14 School Year

So tomorrow will be our last Christmas party in Elementary school *sniff sniff*. She gets to wear pajamas tomorrow, and while I offered to make her some, she decided she wanted to go twinsies with one of her BFFs and get some footie frog pajamas at Walmart. Speaking of Pajamas - have you seen this video?

Its stinking adorable. And if you want to make some PJs like this - designer Ellie Inspired has a pattern that goes up to sz 12. https://www.etsy.com/listing/129826747/knit-pajama-pattern-snug-as-a-bug?ref=shop_home_active 

Well, since this is my last day of school sewing for this calendar year, I wanted to bring you something classic and beautiful AND it just so happened that one of our talented tween designers was looking to test an expansion to a classic and beautiful dress - match made in heaven. I have featured Foo Foo Threads here several times. You can see her whole pattern collection here https://www.etsy.com/shop/FooFooThreads. Now, most of her patterns only go to a 10, but her size 10 pattern typically fits my size 12 29" chest child. The Victorian Romance dress is already released as a pattern but it will be re-releasing up to the size 10 with some new options. You now will be able to have a gathered sleeve, the option of an elastic casing back, and a beautiful full underskirt. You can see the current version here https://www.etsy.com/shop/FooFooThreads 

The new version will be releasing soon. You can follow Foo Foo Threads on Facebook to stay up to date on all new releases https://www.facebook.com/pages/FooFoo-Threads-Childrens-Sewing-Patterns/337392599683426?ref=br_tf. 

I was inspired by one of the Victorian Romance testers from the first version who did a beautiful Mrs. Claus rendition. I followed suit and added the white full underskirt and embellished my bodice in Claus style with black velvet ribbon and white buttons. This is not a one hour sew, but it is SO beautiful. In this size 10, you have your hands full with a lot of gathering, but you know what a lot of gathering gets you? A lot of twirl and ruffles. I think this is a great pattern for an adventurous beginner. I think you can make this in so many ways with fancy fabrics or beautifully coordinating ones. 

I present to you, our 67th outfit, our last school outfit for 2013 - The Foo Foo Threads Victorian Romance New Version size 10. Inspiration - Mrs. Claus.

If you and your family will be going on blog hiatus for the holidays, let me take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas and I wish you all a blessed and prosperous 2014. Just because school is out, I will still be posting. I hope to have another tutorial before Christmas and we will be travelling over the break, so I will be sharing pictures and stories from the road.

As this is the halfway point of the school year, I just want to thank all of you for the support I have received for this blog. I had this crazy idea to sew all of my daughter's clothes this school year and so far, it has happened - through a fractured shoulder, late night sewing, and general life. I have had so many people contact me saying that this project has inspired them - some it has inspired to start sewing, some have picked up sewing after a long time, and some are TEACHING their tween to sew. Sewing has been such a blessing for me. I have 3 college degrees that I feel reflect nothing about who I am. Sewing and design are a passion for me. I think about some facet of sewing all of the time! It saddens me to see this labelled a "dying" art. It gives me such joy to hear people coming here wanting to have some part in its resuscitation. 2014 is going to be a fantastic year and I hope you will continue to visit and carry on this path with me.