More Plaid Flannel

I finished our Christmas Eve pajama pants! I've never made pajama pants before, but I think I'm on to something here. I took extra care to cut mine long enough. Cody always teases me about how all my pajama pants are floods, but not this year! And it's a good thing Cody is on the slim side, because I cut his pants a tad tight--I don't know why. I didn't follow the "measure twice, cut once" rule. The pants fit, they're just not as baggy as he likes. Oh well.

At least Cameron's little pants will not only fit well and match his dad's, but he will look pretty cute in them. All this busy sewing and thoughts of Christmas Eve have me pretty excited. Late last night I cut out (very carefully) Abby's nightgown. The white flannel is soft and fluffy and white as snow. She will look just like Clara from The Nutcracker.

So I'm off to put Cameron down for his morning nap so I can stash these pants away and start sewing again. Busy, busy, busy.

Little Elf

The other day I pretended I was a photographer and took some pictures of some of our Christmas decorations around the house. This picture ended up being my favorite. This little elf dressed in felt belonged to Cody's grandma. She used to trim her Christmas tree with these elves--I also have a another one, who is a little bit bigger. When Cody's grandma died years before I met him, his mom took some of the elves for keepsakes. She gave me two of them the first Christmas we were married.

I used to put them on the tree, but this year I sat them on a snowflake mobile that dangles in our kitchen. They're awfully cute and Cameron loves to point at them. And I've decided that I really like elves. The other day Abby said that elves can change shapes and sizes--they can be really little to spy on us, or they can be big enough to help Santa load his sleigh. I think she's right.

I feel like an elf as I gather stocking stuffers and secretly work on Christmas Eve pajamas. I just finished the most perfect pair of cozy pajama pants for myself--more on that later.

Wintergreen

Although it's hard to tell, this skirt is the prettiest dark green velvet. I found it in my scraps the other day and it was just enough to make a skirt for Julie. I also had some awesome ribbon that is embroidered with bright green and blue flowers for trim. I wish the black turtleneck didn't look so washed out next to the velvet, but it does. If I were really cool, I'd make a deeper, blacker shirt for Julie to wear with this skirt, but Julie is just a doll and there are other things that I want to sew for Christmas.

I just bought some plaid flannel for pajama pants for me, Cody, and Cameron. Abby is getting a white flannel nightgown. Once I have those made, it will be time to give the sewing machine a holiday break.

Little Miss Norway

I originally wanted to make Julie a denim dress with red rick rack, but the denim I had was too heavy. So I used some navy blue knit instead. When it was almost finished, I thought it needed a little something extra, so I added some ribbon from my stash along the waistline. It looked kind of folksy when it was done--like a little Scandinavian dress. Out went my plans of buying a pair of matching red Mary Janes. A dress like this needed red tights and a pair of sherpa boots. That way Little Miss Norway can stomp through the snow and keep her feet warm.

I could have had our Kirsten doll model this dress, since she is the true Scandinavian around here. But she is Swedish and probably wouldn't want to wear a dress that matches the Norwegian flag. Also, she is all dressed up for Christmas right now, and sitting prettily on the book shelf.