A Holiday Playtime Tunic

I hadn't planned on making any sort of Christmas-y apparel for the kids this year. But I wanted to share my method for making the Oliver & S Playtime dress and tunic with facings on the outside, and I had this yard of deep red snowflake fabric that wasn't going to get used for it's original intention. So a little holiday dress happened! And I'm really glad it did. She wore this everywhere in December and it ended up being the perfect little garment to dress up or down. And I feel like she can still get away with wearing it throughout the winter. I may be sold on holiday dresses for Elsie for years to come.

This version of the pattern also has the sleeves left off and bound in bias tape. I love the way the bodice looks with the little cap sleeves. If you are interested in putting the facings on the outside as a contrasting collar, my tutorial is here on the Oliver & S blog. The first time I tried this, I made it look like a little faux Peter Pan collar in black, which you can see here.

The back with these facings is such a pretty surprise. It really adds interest to this simple and versatile pattern. I love a pattern like this that has so much room for fun and creative options. 

We hope you had as great a Christmas as we did. Elsie is happy as can be playing with her one and only wish this year- a Jake and the Neverland Pirates Boat. Except when she is stealing her brother's Transformers!

We got to take these pictures at my workplace, Sewn Studio, with a beautiful backdrop made of Megan Frock's work. Definitely check out her stuff and her gorgeous new embroidery book. 

You probably noticed that I also got fancy on the hem with some fun pom-pom trim! It totally takes this tunic up a notch on the festive scale. Would you be interested in a mini-tutorial of how I did this? It's one of those things that isn't super complicated, but a little trickier than you think it will be... I'll work on it for you. 

Remember, you can keep up with me and see a lot more of my sewing over on Instagram. Follow along @alittlegressica. 

Have a happy New Year everyone!