Handmade Christmas

I have been cranking out the handmade Christmas gifts once again this year (and I think every year that I won't do so much and I do anyway).  This is the Annabelle jacket from Peekaboo Patterns.  Its for the 17 month old.  I always try to make my girls at least one handmade garment for Christmas.    

Details on the pattern:  She's slim through the torso so I made a size 12 month with lengthened sleeves.  I just eyeballed how much extra sleeve I thought she'd need and it was perfect.  I like this pattern pretty well but I goofed the ruffle using the piece that was intended for a tie belt instead of the ruffle piece.  I actually think it turned out better than the ruffle piece would've because it made the ruffle more full.  A couple of small gripes about the pattern are that there are no button placement guides and the bottom portion doesn't overlap as well as I'd hoped it would.  Those details are for anyone who hopes to make it!  Also it is made in a plum baby cord from Hancocks and some flannel I've had in my stash for a while.  

Over all I think it came out pretty adorable, reminds me of Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club.  Its great for church when you need something a little dressier than a play coat.  For some reason these days this girl does not like a coat and shoes put on and she wrestles with me endlessly.  You can imagine I'm sure, you get one arm in and then they bronco kick and out it comes, you get one shoe on then they claw at the floor and screech and scramble out of reach.  Whew, counts as a work out in my book!