It is Christmas time all around.  You can see it in stores,  up and down the streets, and on the Hallmark channel. (That is my favorite Christmas past time.) In the sewing world that means pattern sales, fabric deals, and Christmas sewing!  Sewists are making gifts for others, stitching up goodies for their work at home business, making fancy attire for Christmas Sunday, or testing out new patterns that will be the last to release for designers for the 2015 year.  I saw the Merry Modkid Blog Tour as a great way to set aside all the busy “must do” sewing of Christmas and just do a little something simple.

I was able to select the Modkid Melanie dress to stitch up for this tour. The Melanie dress was my first choice for a fun sew because I wanted to put something together that would be everyday wear for Peyton, yet still have a bit of a Christmas feel.

From the time I selected this pattern, I knew I wanted to push the limits a bit with this pattern and incorporate some plaid flannel into my Melanie. The design of the pattern seems to be a great match for trying to mix some woven fabrics. If you don’t know it, plaid is IN STYLE this year.  However, I had a hard time really finding the plaid I envisioned in my mind.  Even with JoAnn Fabric’s flannel sale, I couldn’t find my perfect Merry match.  I settled for a green plaid flannel that still has a holiday vibe.  The knit is a gray cotton lycra blend, which I’m almost embarrassed to admit I bought at my local Walmart.  But….it is so buttery soft.  Honestly, I can’t believe I just said that about knit from Wal-mart, but it’s true.  I am not a Wal-mart affliate. 🙂

The Final Product:

Modkid Melanie Dress

I modified by using flannel front and omitting side pockets.  In truth, I selected this dress because I loved the pockets.  The problem is that I cut my flannel front and realized that there would be no possible way for me to successfully match up the plaid.  I’m not as OCD as my husband, but I just can’t have plaids that don’t match. (As an aside, when I stitch this up for the littles, I’m going to cut the flannel on the bias.  I think the pattern will be more pleasing to the eye.)  I also added a neck binding rather than folding down and hemming. Both options are included in the pattern. I cut the neck band 80% of the neck hole length as recommended as a second option in the pattern. However, I attached it using a different method than suggested because bound neck holes and me only get along 50% of the time and I didn’t have enough time to scrap this project if I lost the battle with my binding.  Peyton didn’t have trouble getting this on over her head, but I would not recommend trying to make both the front and the back pieces from a woven. The neck hole would be a major issue if you didn’t have some stretch.  Next time I may size down and make her a size four.  Peyton is such a skinny-minnie and I never know how things are going to play out. I really should look at measurement charts more often, but I would rather sew than read numbers.

I love how this dress turned out for a quick, easy, comfy-cozy product.  It is festive, yet wearable.   We have a fancy dress for Christmas Sunday, but this is prefect for gathering with friends and having some playtime too. What do you think?  Too casual or just right?

I also stitched this one up quickly in about an hour. I included the pockets and hemmed the neckline per pattern directions, without a binding.  It is an ivory and white double sided knit from JoAnns.  I know the reviews are mixed on how this fabric holds up, but the it is too Christmas not to give it a try.  By the way, I had a life changing knit experience with these two dresses!  Are you using wooly nylon in your bobbin with your twin needle? Total game changer.  Use a coupon and get a spool if you are a cheapie like me.  It is totally worth it even without a coupon.  You can feel the difference in the stretch immediately.  No popped seems here!

This is the end for me.  The Merry Modkid Tour is wrapping up with just one more day to go.  Be sure to check out all the other creations from the tour!  There is a Rafflecopter give away, so be sure to scroll to the very bottom to enter! Hop over to another post and check out the rest of the tour.  Then, go scope out the patterns you might need to try.  The code below expires soon!

Discount Code: The coupon code MERRYMODKID25 gets 25% off an entire order on the Modkid Etsy store, valid Monday 11/30 through Friday 12/04 at midnight EST. Link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/modkid

Monday, November 30th

Wednesday, December 2nd

 a Rafflecopter giveaway