Celebration Outfits!

Hey friends! Long time no blog- I think last time I posted we were leaving Maine and into New Hampshire. It’s been a whirlwind fall filled with hiking, rock climbing and exploring. After New Hampshire we continued our tour down the east coast, stopping in New York, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Georgia before finally landing in Florida just before Halloween.

We will spend the winter here basking in the sun and enjoying time with friends before we head north again. Even though we spent last winter here, there’s still so much we haven’t explored, and I’m really looking forward to it.

Our first stop in Florida was in a city called Celebration. Celebration is touted as the “town that Disney built” and its a beautiful planned community with restaurants, a farmers market, and a really rockin’ Halloween scene (more on that at the end of the post).

Knowing that the holidays are just on the other side of Halloween, I decided that I needed to get thinking about holiday sewing now that I had a bit more time on my hands and the ability to spread out in my RV sewing space.

I chose the “Magnolia” print from Sew Dynamic Fabrics in brushed jersey to make myself a new skirt that would feel fancy while still standing up to the heat of a Florida Christmas (last year it was about 80 degrees!). I used the Greenstyle Rally skirt pattern in three-quarters circle width, with the foldover waistband.

This is my new favorite type of waistband because it’s incredibly comfortable and doesn’t constrict. Contrary to what the name might imply, you don’t actually fold it down like a yoga waistband. Instead, its folded over to create the inner and outer band, so there’s no seam a the top. Thanks to some nicely curved drafting, it stays in place really well, and has mashed perfectly with all the patterns I’ve thrown at it, including the Inspire tights, and the Cavallos.

And those pockets on the undershorts are everything, am I right?

 

This skirt has a really fun and flirty feel, and the fabric is so deliciously soft and squishy. I started with just a yard, and since circle skirts can be yardage hogs, I had just enough scraps leftover to make my daughter a matching dress.

To keep her cool, I used the olive green bamboo fabric from the Fabric Fairy for the skirt part of her dress and to line the bodice. Bamboo is her all time favorite fabric to wear (spoiled kid?!) because it’s nice and lightweight and gives a good twirl! Isn’t she the cutest in mommy’s pearls?

 

For my top, I tried out the Greenstyle Aria with the cap sleeves and twist front. I am totally in love with how this turned out- I’ve made quite a few twist tops and I think that the way this one is constructed feels the most professional and looks the best on the inside. It took a couple tries of basting/picking to get the twist technique correct, but now that I’ve done it I’ll have no trouble re-creating it again.

The cap sleeves hit at exactly the right spot on me, and the depth of the neckline is really flattering (especially with a fancy necklace for a holiday party). I made the waist length view and I really like where it hits with a high waisted pair of pants/skirt- no skin is showing, even when I raise my arms, and I like that level of coverage for this “dressy athleisure” look. The cropped version is on my list for an athletic tank though!

Now that we’ve talked fabric, sewing and patterns, check out the way Celebration “celebrated” Halloween! I’ve never seen a family neighborhood party this hard for Halloween- it was like a kid friendly rave! Synchronized Halloween music and lights, candy galore and a bubble mosh pit that Sophia ran right into in full princess regalia!

 

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Here’s the whole crew in their costumes. Stephen has been a dino several years running- it’s always a hit (and comes with an internal fan for that Florida heat!) The boys DIY’d their costumes at the last minute, as usual. Noah really went to town on his knight costume, and Oliver spent a long time cutting fabric scraps in just the right way to make himself into a fierce ninja!

 

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I don’t think we will ever top this Halloween, it sure was memorable! We made time before and after Halloween to check out Disney decorated for the holidays. They take Halloween night to take down all the not-so-scary Mickey decor and flip it to Christmas in a single swoop. Seeing how Disney goes all out to decorate made me re-consider my scroogey approach to RV decorating, so we might have a tree sooner rather than later this year, and maybe I’ll throw a few other things up as well.

I hope your holiday season is shaping up to be a great time. I’ll be back soon to share another fun outfit, but in the meantime, happy fall friends!

Oh, and if you needed a reason to grab the Trader Joe’s Caramel apple kit, here it is…

 

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Thanks for reading my blog- I really love hearing from you, so feel free to drop me a comment! There are affiliate links in this post, if you want one of the patterns I’ve linked, all proceeds to go coffee, the skyrocketing cost of diesel, or both!

 

 

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1 Comment

  1. Sheila on November 20, 2022 at 8:12 am

    Welcome back to the blog, you were missed! Love the skirt and the mini look!

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