Chickadee Christmas Dress

On the first day of Christmas

my true love gave to me

a dress full of chickadees

Um, no.  Anyway, my Christmas dress!  I'm pleased with how it came out, and while I was uncertain about the buttons, I like the extra little detail they add to the bodice.  I used an orphan vintage buckle I had in my stash, which coordinated well enough with the buttons.

I didn't get a close up of the pockets (because it was about 16 degrees and very windy) but when I was cutting the fabric, it suddenly declared to me that it must have round pockets.  I'm ever one to listen to talking fabric, so I dutifully got out a cereal bowl, traced a pattern on freezer paper, and round pockets it was!  They are kind of cool, with a kind of moon shape to them.  I did not do a great job of top-stitching, so I ended up adding a second line of stitching to try and conceal how badly I had attached them.  The pockets are also not quite symmetrical, but they were seriously a pain to put on, so I'm not going to fiddle with it.  I think it isn't very noticeable in any case.  

The sweater is a cotton-merino wool blend from Anthropologie that I found on ebay--it is a pretty fantastic sweater!

You can kind of see the shape of the pockets on this one--it was really cold!!  But I figured, everyone has seen the basic shape of this dress before, so no need to get crazy and take sweater-less shots.

(A funny aside: at some point during the afternoon, my husband turns to me and says, "I really like that dress on you--where did you get it?" Me: "I made it." Him: "You should make more of those kinds of dresses. Wear them more often!" Me (with more than a hint of irony): "I've made about five of these dresses this fall and wear them all.the.time." *face palm*)

It was, however, a little too cold to take outside shots without a coat and gloves.  So I opted for the gloves, which helped a surprising amount.

I wore a crocheted 1920s-style cloche hat that I found on etsy last winter.  I had wet set my hair the night before, but it didn't quite turn out right, so the hat was the perfect solution (I was going to have to cover my head anyway for church).

Dem buttons.  I bought them from the same seller that I got the green buttons for my 1917 Coat Dress, because I didn't know which would match the fabric better, so I have about 14 of these lighter green ones.  I used seven on the bodice here, and have seven left to use on another project that I have lined up.

Christ is Born!  Glorify Him!

The church looked very pretty with all the (faux) pine boughs and (real) poinsettias.

In the chaos of the morning, I failed to get any Christmas photos of the kids all together, but I decided that some years, it just isn't going to happen.  This is one of those years.  

I also did not purchase any special "Christmas clothing" for the kids this year, but Birdie had this lovely off-white corduroy dress in her drawer, and put with her beloved red tights and a green hat, she looked right festive.

She insisted on wearing her boots on the wrong feet, however, and wouldn't let me fix it.

Boo just started serving in the altar with Piglet, which brings the total of little boys under age 8 in the altar to four.  It is a bit much.

As a rule, Boo takes direction from no one, but somehow, our priest's son (with the dark hair, leaning down next to Boo) has the magic touch and can pretty much get Boo to do anything, including make the sign of the Cross in the proper direction.

It was nice to have so many of the older boys back from college to help out in the altar!

Ponchik wore her Christmas hat from last year--I had thought to make her a red one from some stashed yarn, but ran out of time (and energy).

The older three went outside after coffee hour and got VERY cold, but at least they ran off some of their exuberance!

Unfortunately, Boo took a spill on the stairs at bedtime (his second serious stair accident this week!) and split his chin open, requiring four stitches at Children's Hospital.  

He took it like a champ, however, and is puttering around happily this morning.

I had a chocolate frosted donut with my breakfast (Boo asked me if he could have a chocolate bagel too) and a nice cup of coffee; now I just need to get going on laundry.

Merry Christmas to all!