The Holiday Debut Blog Tour celebrates the end of the debut year for three very talented new designers: Saskia Smith of The Wolf and the Tree, Gabriela Longfish of Chalk and Notch, and Holli Coats of Hello Holli.

I am so excited and feel honored to be on this tour among 24 amazing bloggers who will be creating and posting holiday inspired outfits made from patterns from each of these designers all week long. Follow along and enter the giveaway at the end to win prizes worth over $300.

Onto our holiday outfit! First, the Blue Ridge dress. Designed by Holli coats, the blue ridge dress is simple in construction, and elegant in all its details like the curved bodice, a single button back closure and all enclosed seams . Before I even started sewing the dress, I fell in love with the description of how the pattern got its name. Named after the gentle curves of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the bodice is exactly that, smooth gentle curves that go all around the chest and under the arms. How fitting is that name!

For the dress, I used a soft silk-cotton blend with a herringbone weave and little gold motifs that I got from my last trip to India, and for the bias trim, a metallic dot cotton in cream by Dear Stella and gold buttons from Joann. I made an 18 month size for my petite almost 2 year old. I cut the bias trim wider than indicated in the pattern which might or might not have been a good decision.

The bodice construction method used in this pattern is new to me and I found it really easy and neat. The raw edges at the seams joining the bodice and skirt are cleverly sandwiched within the bodice (which I now prefer rather than tucking in and top stitching). After three attempts at trying to photograph my toddler, the poor dress wrinkled quite a bit!

Next up: The Abby footed Tights by Saskia Smith. It was destiny that I had just enough of this metallic gold and black knit purchased from Joann last year. Based on measurements, I chose to make a 12-18 month size and it fits so great!

This was my first time ever making tights and I am smitten!! Discovering this pattern for me was like discovering how to make bread at home, like really tasty, healthy organic bread! No seriously, if my daughter is not wearing leggings, she’s wearing tights – store bought! every single one of them! And now I never have to buy any more generic tights for her. I am going to be whipping up a coordinating pair of tights for every dress I make her. That is how awesome this pattern is!

Saskia, the designer of the Abby footed tights has made sure that this pattern remains your one stop shop for any kind of tights you will ever want to make. The pattern comes with options for waist band – elastic or yoga band, and side accents – color blocked, ruched and ruffled. She even has separate pattern pieces to accommodate for 2-way stretch or 4 way stretch fabric and a cloth diaper fit too. And she has you covered for sizes 0 – 12. (Psst! all of her patterns are on sale now!)

And finally, the Fishtail Kimono by Gabriela Longfish. It’s starting to get really cold here, and with the dress being sleeveless, I wanted something that would keep her warm (and look pretty in the pictures and coordinate with her dress) so I used this Swirl fur in ivory. The button is the same one I used for the blue ridge dress and along with the gold elastic loop, I love how pretty it looks on the fur.

Third Kimono this month, need I say more? but honestly, I loved this pattern when I tested it, and love it even more in fur. The gathers in the back along with the asymmetrical length are my favorite features, that and the fact that I can churn one of these up in less than an hour. Contrary to what I expected, the fur fabric was easy to work with. I chose to hand hem the Kimono because I didn’t want the stitch lines to go over those soft swirls.

I am so pleased with how beautifully everything came together! One thing that all three designers have in common is their attention to every fine detail to come up with absolute top notch patterns whether its the cleverly drafted bodice and enclosed seams in the blue ridge dress, the versatility to make in knit or woven, chiffon or fur in the fishtail kimono or the sheer genius of pattern pieces to account for different stretch percentages in the Abby footed tights. All three patterns are on sale for 20% when you use the coupon code HOLIDAY.

Planning a holiday outfit for this blog tour was so much fun! To see what fabulous holiday outfits my fellow bloggers have come up with, visit them here:

Monday, Dec 7th: Willow & Stitch | East & Eden | In a manner of sewing | Climbing the Willow
Tuesday, Dec 8th: Kaleidothought | Feathers Flights | Connected by a Thread | Call Ajaire
Wednesday, Dec 9th: Rebel & Malice | Free Notion | The Whole Sh-Bang | House of Estrela
Thursday, Dec 10th: Candice Ayala | Cindy Parrett | Hi and Hello | Made by Toya
Friday, Dec 11th: Just Add Fabric | Conversas de Hermanas | Glitter+Wit | Sew Starly
Saturday, Dec 12th: Paisley Roots | Petit a Petit + family | Life With Zeke | Made by Sara

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway via the rafflecopter link here for a chance to win these fabulous gifts:

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b34bd4fc1/

Fabric Shops Gift Certificates:
$50 BWD Fabrics & Supplies | $50 Imagine Gnats | 20 EU Girl Charlee UK
Sewing Patterns:
Hello Holli-Blue Ridge Dress | The Wolf and the Tree-choice of pattern | Chalk and Notch-Fishtail Kimono | Baste+Gather-Copy of all patterns | True Bias-Men’s Hudson Pants | Jennuine Design-choice of pattern | Sew Sweetness-choice of pattern | Radiant Home Studios-Highland House Pattern | Paisley Roots- copy of all patterns | Atelier Louise-Silver Sans Sandal pattern | Tinman Pattern-choice of pattern | Pattern Pieces-Fun Tee Pattern | Lorelei Jayne-Tech Pouch pattern | Designs by Call Ajaire-choice of pattern | The Ruffled Stitch-Flower Stripe Top/Dress pattern | Petit a Petit Family-choice of 2 patterns
Gifts:
$25 Sew Sew Rachel

In addition to all these gifts, Holli, Saskia and Gabriela are also giving away copies of their patterns via Instagram throughout the week, follow them for more chances to win! Use the hashtag #holidaydebutblogtour for some sneak peeks to what everyone is sharing!

Thank you for stopping by!