Wee's Oliver & S bedtime story pajamas were finished in time for her to wear to bed last night, making them not only her offical new year's pajamas but the cutest pjs she's ever worn!

These sewed up quickly (it certainly seemed quick after making the bubble dress!). The pants were super fast, even with the contrast cuffs, and the kimono-style top was way easier than I had feared.

Wee, who hates trying anything on, was like a different kid when I was finishing these, coming to watch me sew the final seams and jumping for joy when it was time to put them on. She loves the tiny little Olivias all over the fabric and will spend whole minutes staring at her top to find Olivia on her scooter or Olivia wearing her tutu.

The size 4 fits her perfectly: an elastic waistband and pant legs you can cut to the right length make them easy to sew to fit; and while the top is a little roomy, the length is just right for my little giant.

click for the big picture

And so that completes my holiday crafting. Only one week late (although I'm not sure my in-laws have even received theirs yet). Here's wishing everyone a happy new year full of health, happiness, and successful projects, both crafty and otherwise!

The last holiday gift but one: an Oliver & S bubble dress for a friend of wee's.

This one didn't quite arrive on time because it took me like four days to be able to get some buttons to finish it off. The perfect storm of the last few shopping days and the last few school days kept me busy almost every minute until wee and I managed to dash out the day before Christmas Eve to pick out buttons. Wee really wanted her friend to have big chicken buttons, but I overruled her and went with small red buttons instead.

The fabric is from Heather Bailey's Pop Garden line and is bright and fresh and so pretty. The bubble dress pattern is another incredible pattern from Oliver & S. The lovely curved sleeves and the perfectly poofy skirt are totally cute.

The dress is fully lined and constructed in such a way that there are no visible seams or unfinished edges.

inside view of back placket with extra button

It's extra work for sure but, as always with Oliver & S patterns, absolutely worth it. The pattern is rated as one of her easier ones (with only two out of four scissors on the difficulty scale), which seems pretty accurate, but there are several things a novice sewer will find new, like using elastic in the hem. And in this case, easy is not synonymous with fast. Making that lining all perfect took almost as much time as putting the whole dress together! Still, there's just something about how completely finished the thing looks. But wait... it looks even better with a little person inside!

Wee tried it on for me so we could see how big it would be on her friend.

Wee's a year older but her friend is just as bubbly and fun as wee so once she's tall enough, she'll be all ready for it!

...how lovely are your, um, corduroy sleeves.

Wee's new dress, ready just in time for Christmas! When I cut this out (which, I should admit, was last year!), I had no idea it was a Christmas dress. But now that it's finished, it seems so Christmas-y.

The plaid fabric is from one of those 30's fabric collections and the pattern is yet another version of the Pink Fig Olivia top.

This pattern is so versatile! This time I lengthened and narrowed the top to make it an a-line dress. And to play up the Christmas red of the corduroy sleeves, I re-threaded my serger with red thread to put red rolled edge hems at the neck, sleeves and bottom. (And, you know, nothing but the true Christmas spirit would get me to re-thread my serger!)

O christmas feet, o christmas feet....

I planned to make Oliver & S Bedtime Story Pajamas with this Olivia flannel fabric for wee for Christmas, but a packing error delayed the arrival of the pattern for a week. Now I've got just two days to sew them up!

It'll take a Christmas miracle.

A few hours before the big snow came this weekend, I was busy reattaching the straps on wee's snow pants from last year. I bought a size 3 for my then 1 1/2 year-old and she was tall enough then that I was already worried about how they'd fit this year. Sure enough, when we tried them on the now 2 1/2 year-old wee one a couple of weeks ago, there was a good inch wide gap between the two snappy parts of the bib snaps that no amount of tugging could bridge. Hubby examined the straps carefully, looking deep in the snap contraption for a way to save the cash for another pair of snow pants. And after a minute, he said that we could get rid of the plastic piece the top strap was woven through (the one that allows you to adjust its length) and then we could sew the strap straight to the top plastic bit, thereby giving us another inch and half or so of fabric. And by we he meant me.

But, dang it, if it didn't just work! I used my strongest thread (in a, let's call it coordinating, shade of black) and, bob's your uncle, no more giant wedgie, no more tears and no more money spent!

The Christmas birdies (from Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts) were such a neat little project. Okay, okay, they were fiddly and mine are little lopsided in spots, but as soon as they are done, they are just so stinking adorable, you forgive them for being such a little p-i-t-a. I hope my mother-in-law likes them!

For my father-in-law, I made three potholders (with the more of the Farmer's Market fabric that I used last year for my mother's placemats).

Whenever we visit my in-laws and my very-helpful-in-the-kitchen father-in-law goes to take something hot out of the oven, he is forced to use the only potholders that hang next to the stove: tiny, circular, crocheted potholders. Ouch! He'll burn himself a little and ask who ever thought of making potholders with holes in them. He asks this very good-naturedly, of course, because he's just that way (lucky for me, hubby inherited his calm forbearance). But, still, I thought he deserved some potholders without holes!

Three more things to sew for Christmas!

I'll never make it.

This morning wee helped me cut out pieces to sew up a few bird ornaments from Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts.

My knitting and sewing buddy, Johanna, made one of these as a tree ornament for us last year and it was so cute and such a great idea for a holiday gift, I thought I'd make a few for my mother-in-law this year for Christmas. I found some pretty, coordinating holiday colored fabrics at a local quilt shop and today, wee supervised the cutting process. She counted belly parts and body parts, told me which to cut next and lined them all up in a "pattren". A pattern, I might add, that I was only allowed to disturb once she'd gotten in bed for her nap! Tonight, I sew. If she'll let me, that is.

This is wee's new favorite (and cutest) thing to say. In the last few days she has declared her graham cracker house to be "boo-ful".

Her section of the Christmas tree, i.e, the lower third, covered with the soft unbreakable ornaments she can hang by herself, was "boo-ful".

And the snowflakes on the Christmas tree - created by looking at the tree lights through 3D-style snowflake glasses - were "soo boo-ful".

So when I slipped on my Baudelaire sock, now with heel finished and leg begun, I immediately thought, "how boo-ful!"

I've been waiting to show you this until it was gifted. Now that our little friend Kaya has had her birthday, I can show you my latest Pink Fig Olivia top.

I made wee and her friend turtle tops with this same pattern last year and figured she could use a new one this year, being a year older and bigger, you know. Wee one helped me pick out this sweet woodsy critters fabric for her little friend. And the gorgeous gray sleeves are from a fabric collection based on the Quilts of Gee's Bend. Isn't it purty?

This time around I narrowed the sleeves (they're pretty poofy sewn as-is) and lengthened the top about an inch so it's closer to tunic length. Next time I think I'll extend the pieces above the armholes a bit, as I find the pattern a little low and wide around the neckline and short in the armscye. Give me another year and I'll have this pattern perfected!

There are several more sewing projects planned for holiday gifts. But I can't say more. People are listening!

Sometimes you see a pattern and you just can't imagine making it in any other color than the designer used in the sample. Even though I've seen many very pretty Baudelaire socks on Ravelry, I was so struck by Cookie A.'s original red ones that I had to make mine red. It helps that I like red. A lot. And that I had some Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in a delicious red in the stash.

The occasion for making these particular socks is an advanced sock knitting class that I'm currently teaching. The Baudelaire sock has got so many fun things going on (it's toe-up from a figure 8 cast on with a lace pattern, cables, a short row and gusset heel, and ends with a sewn bind-off) that it's pretty much a sock class in itself. It's all technique-y and show-off-y (in a good way, of course). So I decided that Baudelaire would be perfect for throwing ourselves into the world of advanced sock knitting and Wendy Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up would be the perfect guide for getting through it all successfully. I know I've gushed about how great this book is in the past, but pulling it out again, I can't help myself from gushing even more. It's f-ing fabulous. Really.

I'm digging the Baudelaire pattern so far. The lace is cleverly constructed and the result is lovely. I'm not in love with the figure-8 cast on, but Cookie A. can't be blamed for my frustration with that. Wendy's so-called "Easy Toe" was a nice substitute that saved at least one of my students' sanity. So much better than the strange, almost deconstructed, knitting that you have to do in the first few rows of the figure-8 cast on. You can't see what you're doing at all. Probably because half the time, there isn't anything but some criss-crossed yarn to see. It was a hard sell to the newbies. Now, I personally loves me the short-rows and would short row every toe and heel I ever made. But, then again, I'd be perfectly happy knitting a plain red sock from the top down.