25 Days of Christmas – Day 21 Taylor

Day 21 of 25 Days of Christmas with Simple Life Pattern Company and Art Gallery Fabrics includes a new take on Taylor. Taylor is a gorgeous shift dress pattern with endless possibilities. I’ve made Taylor in the past as a romper and dress. This time I wanted to add a more girly feel and what is more girly than ruffles?

I started by cutting out the dress pieces for a banded version. However, instead of cutting out pieces for a band, I cut pieces to make two layered ruffles. To figure out the width I needed for the ruffles I measured the bottom width of my dress pattern piece (13.5″ for size 9/12m) and multiplied that number by 2. For the top ruffle I cut 2 strips that were 2.5″ x 27″. Next, I cut 2 strips that are 4″ x 27″ for the bottom ruffle.

For the sleeves I used Patricia pattern pieces. I added the ruffle bell sleeve version to carry through more of the pink ruffles. The tie in the back of the dress also uses the coordinating pink solid.

I love how feminine and sweet this dress turned out and the drama the cutout adds in the back.

To achieve this look

AGF fabrics are Pinetre Daybreak and Pure Solids Crystal Pink.

Socks are from Little Stocking Company.

Bracelets are from Little Babes Bracelets.

Freebie

I love to decorate my fireplace mantel with different garlands throughout the year. This year for Christmas I made this Mini Stocking Garland. It looks absolutely adorable hanging over the fireplace. We decided to add scriptures and little treats inside for a homemade advent calendar. You could also make individual stockings to fill with candy or gift cards to hand out as gifts.

Recipe

The recipe today is for Peppermint Macarons. This recipe is a little more difficult and time consuming but so yummy. I love pushing myself to learn new baking techniques and this is one skill I’ve just recently mastered. Be sure to set your egg whites in the fridge a few day before you plan on making these treats so that the egg whites have time to “age.” This step helps reduce moisture in the egg whites and makes them more elastic so they will whip up better and be more airy.