Lola’s Christmas Dress

I officially made the first of what will likely be many Christmas dresses last week. You may have seen a peek on Instagram. Don’t you love Instagram? Definitely my favorite social media outlet. Anyway… I’ve made Lola several Polly Peasant Dresses, but have been wanting to draft a classic bodice and sleeve for her that I can have on hand to use as a sloper, so it was nice to finally have an excuse.

Earlier this Fall I saw this little dress at Gap and loved that it was made out of red corduroy. But, regular priced at $50? No thanks. I don’t know why, but I’ve always had a soft spot for corduroy, and knew I wanted to make Lola’s Christmas dress out of it, for a much more reasonable price.

It was fun to take her measurements and draft the tiny bodice and sleeves. I made one muslin, made the necessary adjustments after fitting it on Lola, and went straight to the fabric from there with the new pattern – and with fingers crossed :).

The fit came out perfect, which was a relief since I didn’t have a whole lot of fabric to work with after all the ruffles. Seriously, each one was 72″ long and 4″ wide, and as I was cutting them I was getting a little nervous for what would be left. Which apparently, wasn’t much.

I wanted a classic-meets-modern-meets-vintage dress (not too much to ask, right?), with cascading layers of ruffles, and although I wanted to kill my sewing machine after the yards and yards of rolled hemming on the ruffle strips, it came out how I had envisioned.

I debated over and over again whether to add a Peter Pan collar, piping, or both, and in the end decided to leave out the collar and just do piping around the sleeves, waistline, neckline and back opening.

The little satin and lace flower attaches with pins for easy washing.

For the back closure, I used three cream pearly buttons. Aren’t pearly buttons so classic (perhaps even classic-meets-modern-meets-vintage?)? I love them.

I also made Lola some little corduroy shoes using this free pattern. Lola is 7 1/2 months, but I made the 3-6m size and they fit her perfectly snug and stay on her feet really well.

 

I added a small ruffle on each shoe, and by small, I mean small. I used up the last bit of my fabric, which didn’t leave a lot of room for gathering, but I’m happy with the finished product. I also added a layer of fusible fleece instead of interfacing to add some softness to the shoes.
 
I also made a little something for the boys to co-ordinate, which I’ll show you soon! We just love this little girl so much and feel so lucky to have her in our family!

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28 Comments

  1. That dress is stunning. I hope you are proud, because you should be. Lola will look amazing in all her Christmas photos. She is adorable anyway so a cute dress just ups the ante.

  2. Oh my goodness – ADORABLE!! I love all the little details like the piping. I can’t believe she is 7 1/2 months old!! She is soooo cute! I’m hoping I can come visit next month so I can meet the little sweetie and see all of you. I miss you guys!

  3. Abby, this little first Christmas dress is darling! I love the details and the ruffles are perfect – I think it’s difficult to get the right balance of girly ruffle without going overboard – and especially with corduroy – this is just right – it turned out amazing and Lola is a doll!

  4. This is absolutely adorable!!! I love how you drafted everything and how it came out! Perfection! :)

  5. This dress is so beautiful! I love the layers and the contrasting piping. I have a soft spot for corduroy too. =) The shoes are adorable as well!

  6. Absolutely gorgeous! I beautiful dress for a beautiful little girl. Thanks for sharing.
    Donna @onceuponasewingmachine.com

  7. I’ve been a reader/follower of yours for years (seriously, years), but I think this is the first time I’ve ever commented–I LOVE this little dress! So sweet. I love corduroy for some weird reason too, but would never have thought to do ruffles with it. So sweet, and the shoes just make the outfit. Great job, thanks for sharing with us all. :)

  8. Oh be still my beating heart. I am drooling over here. And turning green with envy because I do not possess the mad sewing skills you apparently have.

    She’s a doll!

  9. oh I just la-la-LOVE this little dress! It’s Christmassy without being like “you can take your baby out of the Christmas dress now, since Christmas is over” … real lasting power! (as much as baby clothes ever do at least, ha)
    I totally have a soft spot for corduroy as well. It’s kind of like the coziest comfiest thing you can get while still having a formal-ish thing going on. Skinny cords > skinny jeans for comfiness, hands down. And kids in corduroy? Bestill my heart.

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