The 12 Days of Christmas: Heidi and Finn

My guest today is Christine, the talented designer behind Heidi and Finn. Her urban hoodie pattern was one of the first patterns I ever made and she has so many other lovely patterns in her shop. You can also find some great tutorials on her blog. I really admire the clean modern lines and subtle colour combinations that Christine uses in everything she makes, including the beautiful dress she is sharing with us today.

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Hi Everyone! A big thanks to Laura and Suz for asking me to be a part of this series. I had such a fun time, and it made me get a head start on my holiday sewing for once 🙂

Most people think that since I am a pattern designer that I must make TONS of clothes for my kids… `Your kids must be the best dressed kids`……`Your kids must only wear handmade`….`Lucky kids`…. NOPE.
Sure, they get clothes I make, samples, working out new designs etc. but the truth is that I rarely have time to make clothes that my kids actually WANT.
Christmas time is different….
We Have 3 big family events that require fancy attire (my little girl`s fav), and that means 3 fancy dresses to be made. So I like to give my little girl (mostly) free rein on at least one of the 3. Something we can make together

While brainstorming ideas, she decided that she wanted a dress that looked like snow.

me: snow?
her: yes
me: really?
her: yes…snow…like snowballs and stuff……
me:….okay

Here is what we came up with

Now white would not be my first choice  for a 5 year old, but……well….snow is white.

I self drafted the pattern. Simple capped sleeves, rounded empire bodice, gathered skirt, with an ivory chiffon overlay to give it a more snowy look

Truthfully, I had originally only planned on making a white poofy dress, but when I showed my little girl she was not impressed

her: it`s nice….but it needs more snow stuff
me: like what?
her: I don`t know….like more snowy
me:……okay (riffling through my craft drawers)
her: (also looking through drawers)….like this…this looks like a snowball…(holding a big pearl bead)

I only had a couple beads, so off the the dollar store we went and bought every pearl bead they had…a mix of white, champagne and ivory pearls in various sizes

3 nights of beading while watching tv later and…..viola! a more snowbally dress…that she approved of 🙂 yay

I added a few more snowy details:

snowballs just poking over the back shoulders

the back closes with ribbons and mini hanging snowballs

I had a lot of challenges with this dress (beading and hemming chiffon) and was skeptical at first. But, I really like how this turned out

Even though I will most likely be following her around all night making
sure her hands are clean and she has a bib on when she eats…..I know she loves it and more importantly SHE made it with me

…….she also becomes `Snowball White` when she is in the dress…….

Helping all sorts of animals in the forest…….

You can see more of my sewing, home decor and crafting adventures over at Heidiandfinn, and my pattern shop Heidiandfinn sewing patterns.

I can`t wait to see what everyone else comes up with for the rest of this series…I am loving everything so far. Happy Holidays!

Christine

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That is such a stunning dress Christine, all that hand sewing was worth it! I love the ribbon closures and your photos are wonderful too. Your daughter is going to adore wearing it to parties.

Click on the button below to head over to Sewpony and see what Yeka from Lollipop Garden Crafts is sharing today.

On the ninth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.