Purple plaid flannel tunic thingy

She needs pants and long-sleeved shirts.  Obviously, first up would be a purple plaid flannel tunic with sleeves that stop at her elbows.  Ahem.



Trying to enlist kidlet in the KCWC fun, I took Stephanie with me to Joann's fabric store to buy a new cutting mat and some corduroy for her pants.  As we walked along the aisles of fabric, she grabbed and admired many, but few so fervently as this super-soft purple plaid flannel.  To me, flannel screams "PJs!" or "Lumberjack!", but to her, it screamed "Soft and Warm!"  Fair enough.

Because I'm too cautious to wing it, I used the chic chic dress pattern for the measurements, but you don't really need a pattern; there is a fantastic tutorial here.  I used the directions in that tutorial rather than what came with the pattern.  Next time, I will trust myself more (and use the tutorial for the whole thing).  My reliance on the pattern meant I didn't actually measure my kiddo; thus, the sleeves hit her elbows rather than her wrists (sigh).

This dress is so very easy, though mine was more a comedy of errors.  At the time we purchased the fabric, I had an image in mind but no pattern or measurements, so I bought a yard...not really enough to fit the pattern, which I only really discovered after cutting one big piece out of it.  I fudged the rest to use the fabric I had rather than buy more purple plaid flannel.  No two pieces are quite the same.  Fortunately, for this dress, it doesn't really matter.  Whew.

To keep it from being too borderline-pajama, I added two pockets on the front: simple rectangles with a light blue velvet ribbon trim from my stash.



Verdict?
Soft and Warm!  Happy kiddo (with cold forearms, alas)!