Skip to main content

Made By A Fabricista: Vintage Inspired Holiday Outfit

Wow! Can you believe it's December already? Is it just me, or did this year fly by? I always get excited for all of the fun winter holiday festivities that December brings. In my family, it is a December tradition to watch the movie White Christmas. There’s just something magical about the songs and dances, gorgeous costumes, and 1950s Christmas glam! 

Every December, I have big dreams of creating a little Christmas magic of my own through sewing. Making special outfits and handmade Christmas gifts for my loved ones is my favorite way to make magic. 

When I saw a beautiful scarlet, evergreen cotton, and polyester plaid twill on Fabric Mart's website in early October, I knew I had to get it! The fabric gave me a vision of my own White Christmas-inspired, plaid holiday dress. I ordered 4 yards of the plaid fabric, and on a whim, I grabbed 1 yard of a soft ivory boucle lace knit fabric. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with the 1 yard of lace knit fabric but I had a good feeling that they belonged together.

With my fabric in hand, I started to plan the perfect holiday outfit. I settled on a pinafore dress in the plaid twill fabric. I envisioned a coordinating mock turtle neck with the knit lace to wear under the pinafore. 

The free Gambit Pinafore Dress pattern from Mood perfectly fit my vision. The pattern was modeled after the famous dark plaid dress the main character wore in The Queen’s Gambit TV show. I loved the v-neckline, the full-circle skirt, and that the pattern is based on 1950s fashion. This was the first time I’ve used a free Mood pattern, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was happy to have the pattern pieces for free. 

The pattern doesn’t include finished measurements and it also doesn’t mention the amount of ease included so I had to pick the sizes strictly from my measurements. I printed out the pattern pieces in a size 12/14 based on the waist and hip measurements and graded the bust area down to the 8/10 size. I probably could have made the whole thing in the 8/10 size though because the assembled bodice and skirt were large in all areas. I wanted there to be some extra room in the bodice to fit tops and sweaters underneath, but it was still too roomy. I ended up taking in the center back seams of the bodice, the side seams of the skirt, and the shoulder seams. After all of these alterations, I was happy with the fit of the dress. 

The included instructions aren’t very detailed, and they read more like a blog post and less like a formal sewing pattern. This wasn’t an issue for me, but if you are new to sewing apparel I wouldn’t recommend this as a first sew. 


The turtleneck top on the other hand was very beginner-friendly! I made the Seamwork Jenny pattern which has separate front and back yoke pieces perfect for color blocking or experimenting with different fabrics. 

With my 1 yard of knit lace, I cut out the long sleeves, front and back yoke, and neckband. I used a solid-colored ivory knit fabric I had acquired during a recent in-person Fabric Mart trip for the main bodice front and back. Using the solid ivory fabric gave the top added modesty and also supplemented the 1 yard of knit lace. The assembly of this pattern is very straightforward and the top came together in under two hours from cutting it out to hemming it. 

When the dress and top were finished, I couldn’t wait to try them on and give the skirt a twirl. Is there anything more fun than twirling in a full-circle skirt? I know, I entertained my one-year-old son with all of my twirling!  I love my new White Christmas-inspired holiday outfit and I can’t wait to wear it the first chance I get. Once again, Fabric Mart has helped make my sewing dreams come true. May you have a wonderful holiday season full of sewing magic! 



SHAINA   @shaina_sews 


Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following categories: COTTON, TWILL, & LACE.

Comments

  1. Your pinafore and top are wonderful. Congratulations on a truly Christmasy make

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! Just gorgeous and beautifully made.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your outfit is beautiful!! Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shaina - beautiful job matching the fabric lines! Gorgeous holiday dress!! 🎄🎄

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, Just lovely! I'm so glad to see the Jenny pattern used, I'll give it a try, I love the sheer or contrast yoke feature.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You did a superb job! It looks very similar to Judy's outfit when she convinced Danny Kate they should pretend to be engaged!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful outfit! I had my eye on that mood pattern, when it first came out. Maybe I should add it back to my list. I also love your top- what a pretty combination!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made By A Fabricista: Quilted Jacket Chronicle

What do you get when mixing the best things about apparel sewing and machine quilting? A quilted jacket! It's funny that I elected to sew myself a quilted jacket for this Fabricista blog because I don't consider myself much of a quilter. I can count on my hands the number of quilted projects I've made over the last few years. While I fully appreciate the end product of quilting, I don't normally gravitate toward starting quilting projects. That's why making a quilted jacket is a new and exciting project for me! It gives me the fun of making a quilt on a much smaller scale. If you are an avid apparel sewist and are new to quilting, this is the perfect project to take for a quilting test drive! For my quilted jacket, I used the Seamwork Easton Jacket pattern. I decided to stick with a solid-colored fabric for the jacket's exterior and ordered 4 yards of Dark Umber Brown Lycra Stretch Canvas Suiting from the Fabric Mart website. I wanted a contrasting color for the

Made By A Fabricista: Well Suited for Fall

Fall is my favorite time of the year! The weather is cooling down and I'm always excited to transition into the cooler weather. I get to create with some of my favorite fabrics and I'm always inspired by all the cool fashion trends for the season. So for this month's fabricista feature I snagged some cool medium-weight twill fabric in a beautiful warm cinnamon color.   This fabric has a medium bottom weight feel to it, great for pants, outerwear, jackets, boiler suits and more. I used a needle suited for medium weighted woven fabrics and my serger for finishing raw edges. The color of this fabric is so warm and inviting. I think it is the perfect color for Fall. I couldn’t wait to create a fall ensemble with this fabric. I chose Simplicity Pattern S9893 because I’ve been dying to create this pattern since it launched. It is a cool cape with cargo pockets, storm flaps, hidden buttons at the shoulder, a collar with button tabs and even more button tabs at the underarm. This c

Made By A Fabricista: From Fabric to Finish Line: Creating My Running Gear

In 2021, I ran my first 5k; I was instantly hooked. I loved the instant sense of accomplishment of crossing the finish line & completing something, but all in all at the time I was absolutely no good at running. Now in 2024, I am an avid runner. I absolutely love running & I still love completing races. It had never crossed my mind to sew any running clothes until lately, but I’m sure glad I did.  On Fabric Mart they had the most amazing windbreaker like animal fabric & I knew it would be a perfect match. For the jacket I decided to block it so that it would give it a bit of extra definition. The actual fabric was really easy to sew with & to cut, however, it was a bit hard to pin & left needle marks within the fabric so I suggest using clips instead. I absolutely loved how it turned out. The pattern that I used for the jacket is a free sewing pattern from Mood Fabrics called the Cory Jacket. It is a fairly simple sew & can be made in a day.  For the shorts, I u