Christmas Clothing Creations

I've got some creation house-keeping to catch up on. There's still quite a few things I made as Christmas gifts which I have yet to document on this little blog. Today's batch are all the garments that I have made for some of my nearest and dearest, aside from Patty's Rockabilly bowling shirt and the baby togs that I've previously documented.

This skirt above was made for my best friend using some Autumnal toned vintage fabric that has been in my stash for longer than I can remember. Suffice to say, that fabric finally got busted right out of there! Having previously used this pattern to make a skirt for Vic, I knew that the shape and fit were a success. Making people garments, particularly to a deadline, is stressful enough. A tried and tested pattern made in a different fabric with a different hem length may feel like a vague cheat, but is likely to assuage the seasonal stress a little!

Next up are some cheeky high waisted pin-up shorts made for my pal Kirstin. She is a petite little lady and that combined with the fact that these shorts take very little fabric anyway, meant I was able to make them from a small piece of soft tweedy fabric that was leftover at work. The most time consuming part about making these shorts was grading my original pattern down from a size 14 to a size 6-8. It was a good exercise in grade rules, and in developing patience, but remind me not to try that kind of thing again in a hurry!

I'm sad to say that these shorts weren't exactly a surprise. I had to ask her to try them on in Novemeber so I could adjust them and give them back to her all wrapped up at Christmas time! I needed to take them in a fair bit over the hips and taper in the side seam towards the hem as the original pattern is best suited to particularly curvy girls, i.e. those with a significant different between their natural waist and hip measurements. But I'm glad I took the time to then transfer those alterations back onto the pattern, so now I have a good template for more shorts for Kirstin in the future.

The last garment I have to show you today is another version of the batwing dresses and tops I've been into making recently. This gift went to my mate Rehanon, who is making waves in the online sewing community herself these days with her inimitable sense of style and fun. Check out her alter-ego, Miss Demeanour's, new blog. Although relatively new to this old sewing game, she has been relentlessly producing wonderful and oft-fabulously kitsch garments at a frankly alarming rate!

Anyways, this dress is a combination of the patterns for the batwing dress and the collar batwing top. The main part is made from a weightly slinky black jersey which has lurex flecks. The contrast collar is made from polka dot cotton. I always find it tricky when creating the first garment for someone, as you have yet to gleen feedback from previous creations in order to get a (non pervy) feel for their proportions. Having been made in jersey, you could say that making this dress was a safe bet. But I know that Rehanon is more than capable of adding her unique stylistic flourishes to make this wholely her own!