We made it guys! School is out for Summer! We are officially on holidays and heading to the beach for a few weeks. These Un-Christmas jammies will be perfect for waking up Christmas morning at the beach, but also perfect at any time of year!
As part of our Sew Jammies 2020 Blog Tour – Get your free ticket here (so you can get discount codes and be eligible for prizes)! Read all about Sew Family Jammies with Sew Altered Style (Mac and Katie) and Maker Mountain Fabrics (Grace) and Blog Tour Coordinator Extraordinaire (Teri aka FaSewLa) here.
I am only sewing what my kids request these days. I am short on time and hate to waste it sewing something that sits in the closet unloved. They all love simple summer jammies. Boxer shirts and tanks and tees are perfect for our summer Christmas.
I actually thought they’d all request a tank, so luckily I asked before I got too far into the project. I used the Ainslee Fox Triton Tank to make the tank and the Jalie Mimosa for the tees and just straightened the hem.
I didn’t have any red knit fabric so I bought some large tees and upcycled them (which was actually much cheaper lol). I was able to keep the necklines on all the tops from the original shirts!
I tried to convince them to let me applique a star or something on each top to match the shorts, but I got a hard and fast NO. #boring
I used the Made by Jacks Mum Hang Ten shorts for all the boxers. It’s a great pattern, I’ve used it a hundred times. I just made them the length they all like ( the girls like theirs a little shorter than my son).
The only thing I did differently was use 2.5cm elastic in the waist instead of 3cm (as that’s what I had on hand), and I also attached the elastic to the fabric instead of making a casing. Who likes their elastic flipping in their waistband? Not me…
As you can see they’re a hit! I bought the shorts fabric from an opshop, but it’s currently in store at Spotlight. I got a few metres of it, so Mum & Dad will have shorts to match too when we get home from holidays! It’s really light weight and they love how it feels like their are wearing “air” haha!
As you can see the “Silly Season” is in full swing here! We wish you and all your families a wonderful Christmas, or whatever holiday you choose to celebrate!
If you would like to see more Christmas Jammies from around the worl, stop by these blogs to check them out!
December 2 Teri // Fa Sew La
December 4 Sierra // Seams Like Sierra
December 6 Emily // Replicate then Deviate
December 10 Heidi // Handmade Frenzy
December 11 Sharon // Sweet Mama Life
December 12 Carrie // Beri Bee Designs
December 13 Katie // KatieKortman.com
December 16 Melissa // A HAPPY STITCH
December 17 Taish // Blooming Skies
December 18 Leanne // Thready For It
December 19 Laurie // Make It Sew with The Bear And Pea Atelier
December 20 Brooke // Idle Sunshine
December 21 Marissa // Sew Help Me
December 23 Lara // Handmade by Lara Liz
December 24 Kelly // Petite Stitchery
December 25 Jess // Broad In The Seams
December 26 Victoria // Victoria Beppler
December 27 Heather // Heather Handmade
December 28 Sylvia // The Ravel Out
December 30 Victoria // Victoria Lucille Anne
December 31 Teronia // Sew Haute Blog
Welcome to the Simple Life Pattern Company Holiday Blog Tour! This is my third time on the tour and I feel so honoured to be asked each year. Stick around because we have giveaways all week long as well as a discount code to give you 40% off all SLPCo patterns!
When the invitation comes, I always seem to be on holidays #sorrynotsorry! We love travelling in our caravan. This year we were travelling 8,500km around central Australia to see Uluru which was amazing. The service out there was worse than I imagined which made choosing fabric & patterns difficult, so I had to wait until I got home to get started.
We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia and Christmas is in the heat of our summer, so my pattern choices may be a little different to my Northern Hemmisphere friends. I think that adds to the fun and you get to see many interpretations of the holidays!
Christmas is very relaxed in Australia, so we dress for comfort. Being Summer, I chose Maggie’s High Waisted Shorts and the Autumn Knit Shift Top to wear underneath. Both patterns have many options included.
I chose the low waistband option on the shorts and left off the pockets as I thought the checked fabric I had chosen might get a little busy. I chose a simple hem, because I knew my girls would like that, but there is also an elastic bubble hem or cuffs.
I made the simple unlined Autumn top, which is a great staple t-shirt pattern. I made it using a rayon spandex which has great drape. As you can see though, the Autumn can go from simple to WOW with inserted ruffles and can also be made in a dress length, sleeveless and with long sleeves.
The only change I made to the pattern was to use 38mm (1.5 inch) elastic in the back waistband instead of narrow elastic, as I thought I would prefer that look.
We are counting down the weeks till Christmas here! It’s our favourite time of year. We spend a few weeks at the beach in our caravan and even wake up Christmas morning there.
The summer heat has come early and we are in the middle of a catastrophic bushfire event. Pics were tricky to get in this weather, so we had to settle for full sun (which I hate for taking pics). We were on our way to a party and the girls decided to keep their outfits on instead of getting changed which was cute!
I can see my girls wearing these outfits and both pieces seperately quite a few times over the next few months.
I made them a matching headband each because I love a put together outfit! They look sooo cute. Maybe in your part of the world you could make a long sleeved Autumn shirt and team your outfit with thick stockings and boots?
Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will add value to my readers.
I am thrilled to be returning on the Simple Life Pattern Company Holidays Blog Tour! I love the challenge of creating something special, and this amazing group of makers always push me to challenge myself!
As with all the best blog tours, we have a discount code to give you 30% off all patterns, as well as a giveaway! Read through to the end to get all the important details!
Oh my stars, where do I start ? If you love to hack and mash patterns with a little bit of problem solving thrown in, you will love this project!
My personal challenge for this year’s post was to make something amazing enough to take its place in the SLPCo Holiday Tour, while at the same time making something really wearable for my girls.
That sounds pretty easy surely? You see most little girls love dresses and feeling like a princess! Not my girls… They like denim shorts and Mickey Mouse T-shirt’s! Oh and tie-dye, if it’s tie-dyed they will wear it! #eyeroll
I always get some input from my girls when I’m sewing for them, so I set out to lose myself on the Art Gallery Fabrics website to give them a few options to choose from! I love when AGF sponsors my blog posts with fabric, there are so many amazing collections to choose from!
I decided on a two fabric combination to make matching, but not quite matching dresses. I love a pop of contrast! I wanted to make a combination that looked bright and festive without pigeon holing it as a “Christmas dress”.
I gave the girls a few options and I’m so glad we all agreed on this combination as our favourite! It is from the Trinket Fusion Collection and the WHOLE collection really spoke to me! Those earthy autumnal colours are my happy place.
My eldest loved the “Flower Glory Trinkets”, she is a retro/vintage loving girl after my own heart! This print was originally designed by Bonnie Christine. My youngest chose the gorgeous red geometric print called “Wallpaper Trinkets”, originally designed by April Rhodes. Together they are a match made in heaven!
To create these dresses I used the bodice from the Simple Life Patterns Laguna Dress and teamed it with the skirt and pockets from the Newport Dress! Easy right? Then I decided to make things a little more complicated…
I decided to remove the partial placket opening from the back of the dress and add a full placket down the centre front! I wanted to use my contrasting fabrics and I thought this would be a great feature.
So step one was to calculate the centre of the back bodice and cut it as one piece on the fold. Then I cut the front bodice main & lining as 2 pieces each, instead of on the fold. I also added 1″ in length to all the bodice pieces, just because I felt like it would work…
I decided I wanted my finished placket to be 3cm wide, and then calculated the width of my placket pattern piece by doubling my 3cm and adding 2 seam allowances of 1cm each. So I cut my placket pieces 8cm wide and roughly estimated the length by adding the bodice and skirt heights together and leaving myself a few inches extra, just in case.
I had to recalculate shoulder strap position taking into account the changes I had made, and started construction by sewing up my bodice quite like the Laguna pattern instructions, leaving the centre front unsewn.
I then cut the skirt front piece down the centre and added the pockets as per the Newport pattern instructions. Then I sewed the side seams and gathered my skirt to fit the bodice using 2 rows of gathering stitches. Once the skirt was attached to the bodice I interfaced the centre 6cm width (and full length) of my placket pieces. I then folded and ironed 1cm seam allowances along both long edges and then pressed it in half lengthways, wrong sides together.
To attach the placket I lined up the long raw edge of the placket to the centre front of the dress, right side of placket laying on top of the wrong side of the dress, making sure to leave an inch or 2 overhang for both the top and bottom. I stitched in the first ironed fold (1cm from the edge). Then wrapped the placket around to the front, folding over the top and bottom and wrapping it inside the placket. The seam allowance stays folded under and you topstitch from the front to finish it. If you pin it carefully, those stitches on the back should stitch in the ditch and look pretty neat from the back as well as the front.
Now is about the time you discover you have lost your snap pliers!! Oh my gosh I spent days looking and they have obviously gone on vacation somewhere! Then after you panic and search for a couple of days, you remember you actually have a big snap press you’ve never even tried! So I got that together and got both dresses done, but only one would snap up! I have no idea why!! They were both Kam branded snaps… but those tan/mossy ones were a complete failure! I then made such a mess removing the snaps in the press, I really just wanted my pliers 😦
In the end I didn’t have quite enough red ones to finish it off, but a couple of maroon ones on the back will never be seen! Shhhh!
After the snaps were complete I hemmed the dresses by folding under the overlocked edge and then doing a 3cm hem. I figured I had a little extra length after I lengthened the bodice, and I like a deep hem.
Photos were then put back day after day… The KAM snap stuff up… dance rehearsal day, a reunion catch up at the beach (but the beach had washed away so that didn’t work as a location either)… Early morning was super foggy before school… Stress levels were rising!
FINALLY! These smiling faces braved a swarm of mosquitoes which required a quick location change before we got the shots we needed. I told you this project really tested us!!!
They insisted props were necessary for a Christmas themed shoot! It was just the fun we needed to finish off ❤
If you’ve found some inspiration here, or from the other ladies on this tour, head over to Simple Life Pattern Co for their winter sale!! All patterns (minus the brand new Betty) are on sale for 30% using code FALLINTOSLPCO. Sale ends the 12th at midnight so get shopping!
Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will add value to my readers.
Welcome to my stop on the Simple Life Pattern Co Special Occasion Blog Tour. The calendar keeps creeping closer and closer to Christmas and the party season, so this is perfect timing to get some beautiful inspiration for the holidays, especially when you can shop all the patterns for 20% off! (Use code: SLPcoSpecial)
When my friend Becca from Sunflower Seams asked me to join in the tour, we were on a 3 week trip travelling thousands of kilometres in our caravan. I had blown out the data allowance on my mobile phone, but I said yes, stole my husband’s phone and started scrolling immediately through the SLPCo Pattern shop!
I picked out my favourite patterns that I thought were right for the theme, then I let Miss 9 choose her favourite from the snapshots (that are most likely still sitting on the camera roll on my husband’s phone).
She chose the Lexi Strappy Back Maxi Dress which I love! It has a V-neck bodice at the front, a cutaway side with no side seam and 3 straps on each side at the back.
I raised the front a little and created a curved front neckline, then used some vintage silver braid I had in my stash for the straps. They were wider than the straps in the pattern and I didn’t have enough of the braid to do 6 straps so I chose to do 2 each side instead.
I was covering a snap with fabric to match at the back, and the dress was all but finished, when I noticed that one of the straps was starting to fray! When I looked a little closer, all the straps were pulling out of the bodice… I was devastated!
I had zig zagged back and forth over all the ends and thought I was clever for thinking to do that, but I think the zig zag was too wide to be effective enough.
I unpicked the bodice just in the parts where the straps attached and created some new straps with the chiffon I used for the skirt. Then I hand stitched them into place, closing the bodice at the same time. I actually love how they turned out.
I found it a little scary working with these delicate fabrics. I like to iron the heck out of everything I make in each step to get a great finish, so I was scared I was going to melt this dress every step along the way!
I am trying hard to sew from my stash (which is beyond ridiculous by the way) and when digging through bags and tubs of fabric, my eyes went to this crinkle chiffon straight away. It came from some bags of remnants that my Mum bought from a lady who worked in a fabric store. When looking for options for a coordinating fabric, I found this shantung and lining which was actually left over from when Mum made my bridesmaids dresses around 12 years ago! So I guess that makes this dress extra special ❤ .
It is really warm here at the moment and being spring the Jacarandas are just beautiful. If it is cold where you are, a maxi is great for hiding tights underneath, and a faux fur Juliet cape (which is a free pattern) would look beautiful over the top.
I thought it made a beautiful flower girl dress and so we made a posy to take along for our pictures. I took the pink and purple blooms from a beautiful bunch of flowers my friends gave me for my birthday last week. They were the flowers from the bouquet that lasted the longest, as well as matching the dress best! Isn’t it funny how those things work out…
To see all the special makes my friends have been making on this tour please make your self a cup of coffee and click through the links below. Or if you would like to hire out this cute little flower girl, we can arrange that too!
While both giveaways are open to everyone, contestants outside of the U.S. will be responsible for any excess shipping and fees and subject to the sponsors’ shipping guidelines.
Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win the following.
One winner will be chosen at random after the Rafflecopter closes.
1 winner of the Rafflecopter will receive:
5 Patterns of choice from Simple Life Pattern Co.
$50 Gift Card from Cotton Coterie with FREE shipping
Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we believe will add value to our readers.
idle sunshine 