Handmade Christmas (and Birthday) Gifts for Little Girls

I decided (in a particularly silly moment) that I would sew as many Christmas and birthday gifts as possible this year. This culminated in me cutting out:

• 12 Oliver + S Popover Sundresses
• 6 Oliver + S Bubble Dresses
• 3 Softie Dolls from 70 Piggies
• 2 Gabby Dresses
• Numerous elastic waist skirts.

I don't know if that sounds like a lot, but considering the 12 Oliver + S Popover Sundresses, 5 of the 6 Oliver + S Bubble Dresses and one of the softie dolls were all made in November, it feels like a mammoth amount to me!!

I don't have pictures of the other stuff, but here are the pictures of the ones I made in November.

First up, a little dolly called Bonny (Little M named her after one of her little mates at daycare) for my niece's first birthday.

It was very difficult to convince Little M that Bonny was actually for her cousin. Bonny lived in my sewing room until she was ready to be sent off to my niece, but one day I noticed she was missing. I asked Little M where she was, and got led to her bedroom, to find this:

I asked Little M what Bonny was doing. 'I'm just keeping her safe for A (her cousin), Mum'. Hmmm. Hilarious given she has her own version of this doll that I sewed for her before she was born.

Now onto the Popover Sundresses. This is about half of them:

The one in front is a Liberty version for Little M, the rest are gifts for my nieces, one for my neighbour's little girl, and a birthday present for Bonny, Little M's wee mate from school. I have to say that these tiny dresses are extremely satisfying to make. They are very cute, take minimal fabric, and once you get going, take about 45 minutes to make. I used Liberty, linen, Japanese cotton, and polished cotton.

Now for the Bubble dresses. I've got three to show you. This one is for my little one-year-old niece for Christmas. The smallest Bubble Dress size is a 2, but my sister isn't fussed. I used 2cm seam allowances in the hope it might fit her now. The fabric is from Rathdowne Remnants, and I had just enough left over to make Little M a simple elastic waist skirt. I don't have a picture of that.

 

This one is for my seven-year-old niece. I really wanted to make her some dresses for Christmas as for her last birthday I was running a bit behind and just bought her a dress (in my defence, her birthday is in April - I have 6 birthdays in April, including Little M's and Michael's). It was a Little Leona Edmiston dress, so it was a special one.  I sent the present with Ruth to give to her as she lives in Queensland. She opened her present, took out the dress and said 'I knew Aunty Rach would make me a dress!' Cue extreme guilt on my part. So an awesome Bubble Dress (and a Popover Sundress) for L. L is 7 but a skinny minny, so I made her a size 5 with some extra length and scant seam allowances. This fabric is also from Rathdowne Remnants.

 

I also made one for Little M to wear to Mr H's 3rd Birthday Party. I mean, a girl needs a party dress right? That and she's had a major growth spurt and desperately needs new clothes. I made this one in a size 3 and it fits her perfectly. I wonder if this means she's going to get limited wear from it. Sigh. This fabric is a remnant I picked up from Tessuti a while back. I had enough to also make my littlest niece a Popover Sundress - you can see it in the top photo.

Finally, I made Little M a little elastic waist skirt, and, at her request, one for her favourite dolly Anna.

Unfortunately Anna's skirt got cast aside for some store bought dolly clothes my Mum gave Little M for Christmas this past weekend. I shed some tears for the lack of appreciation of my toiling.

I just have one more Christmas present to make - Little M's Christmas day dress. I've decided it will be my tradition to make her a frock out of Liberty each year. I'm making it at Sewjourn this weekend, but here is a sneak peak:

I ended up choosing the buttons down the bottom. It is going to be extremely cute. Extremely.

Are you making Christmas gifts this year? Not sure I'll ever repeat it on this scale, but I have enjoyed seeing all the lovely little dresses lined up together.