It’s that time of the year again! The air is cold, the days are shorter, the leaves have almost all fallen from the trees… but it’s okay because Christmas is just around the corner! We can now marvel at fairy lights in the streets, enjoy warm drinks on holiday markets, go skating on ice rinks and plan festive gatherings with our loved ones.
Those cold and short days can be a great excuse to stay inside and sew… but many of us lose inspiration to sew come the winter months. If that’s your case, why not take inspirations from the best (or the worst… but that’s another debate) Christmas movies?
What better feeling than to curl up under a plaid on the sofa with a cup of hot cocoa to watch or re-watch a few holiday classics and discover some new ones? We’ve done that a bit early this year and kept our eyes peeled to bring you the most inspiring fashion for your winter sewing.
STYLISH DAY OUT
Not ready to give up wearing dresses during the colder months? Or are you hoping to keep some colour in your winter wardrobe? In Last Christmas, Kate (Emilia Clarke) wears a whole collection of leopard printed dresses in midi or maxi length and after watching it, we want to recreate one asap!
(Last Christmas, Universal Picture)
We have an amazing selection of animal printed viscose fabrics: whether you’re more into leopard or zebra, we have the right print for you!
(Fabrics featured from left to right: Jewels Viscose Twill, Leopard Red Viscose Fabric, Eglantine and Zoe Zebra Viscose Crepe, Zebra Camel and Navy Viscose Crepe.)
Pattern options for long dresses are easy to find, choosing the one you want will be the hardest part! You could opt for a Friday Pattern Company Wilder gown, a Cashmerette Roseclair, a tiered Tilly & the Buttons Indigo, a Fibremood Marion, a Deer and Doe Orchidee, or Tint of Mint’s Aimee maxi frill dress for example.
(From left to right: Friday Pattern Company Wilder gown; Cashmerette Roseclair; Tilly & the buttons Indigo; Fibremood Marion; Deer and Doe’s Orchidee; Tint of Mint’s Aimee maxi frill dress)
If you’re more team florals, why not take a page out of Lily (Midori Francis) from Dash and Lily’s style book to recreate her lovely square neck floral print dress?
(In Dash & Lily, Netlfix)
We offer a wide range of rayon fabrics with floral prints on a black background that would be perfect to make this dress, including Art Gallery Fabric’s Dream like Daisies or Jardin Robuste and Atelier Jupe’s Small poppies.
Square neck pattern options include Closet Core’s Pauline dress, Cashmerette Upton dress and By Hand London Tamzin dress, all of which have long sleeves version, which you’ll probably want to opt for in winter
(From left to right: Closet core Pauline dress; Cashmerette Upton dress; By hand London Tamzin dress)
If comfort is key for you and you want to be really warm while staying stylish, look no further than Amanda Wood’s (Cameron Diaz) closet in The Holiday. And if black is your go-to, then you’ll want to turn to Mia’s (Heike Makatsch) office look in Love Actually for inspiration.
(From left to right: The Holiday, Universal pictures; Love Actually, Universal pictures)
We have a variety of white or black knits for you to recreate these effortlessly chic looks
(Fabrics featured in clockwise direction: Mind The MAKER - Organic Woolen Ottoman Knit Creamy White; Creamy White Organic Single Stretch Jersey; Meet MILK - Fine Rib Jersey Shell with TENCEL™ Lyocell; Meet MILK - Tencel Stretch Jersey Black; Mind The MAKER - Organic 2x1 Rib Knit Black)
Pattern options include the True Biais Nikko top, the Style Arc Debra Zebra Top or Wardrobe By Me’s Trudy Turtle Neck.
(From left to right : True Biais Nikko top ; Style Arc Debra Zebra Top ; Wardrobe By Me Trudy Turtle Neck)
Alternativemely, why not use one of these fabrics to make a Mccalls 8143 zipped sweater to emulate Sloan Benson (Emma Roberts) in Holidate ?
(Holidate, Neflix)
Okay, this one might be thinking a little bit outside the box… but Kevin’s (Macaulay Culkin) outfits in Home alone can actually be a great source of inspiration for grown ups too!
(Home alone, 20th Century Fox)
We especially like Kevin’s lose fitted khaki trousers. Workwear inspired trousers are trending at the moment and you can use our green Robert Kaufman Ventana cotton twill fabrics to make a pair of Vikisews Anne trousers or Modern Sewer Worker trousers.
(from left to right: Vikisews Anne trousers; Modern Sewer workwear trousers).
MEN’S STYLISH DAY OUT
No reason to leave men out of this selection as we carry great menswear fabrics at Lamazi! As we all know, in winter, layering is key, and no one seems to know that better than Tom (Henri Golding) in Last Christmas.
(Last Christmas, Universal Picture)
To achieve Tom’s top notch layering, start by sewing a lightweight long sleeved tee or Henley such as Thread Theory Strathacona Henley or Tobey K pattern’s Berlin Tee with one of our solid cotton or viscose jerseys.
(left to right: Tobey K pattern Berlin Tee, Thread theory Strathacona Henley)
(Mind the MAKER Organic Cotton Jersey)
You can then layer a cosy hoodie on op, made in one of the many French Terries we carry. Some of our favourite Sweater patterns for men include the Carmanah sweater by Thread Theory or Wardrobe by Me Ziggy Zipper hoodie. But if you’d rather not have a hood, the Friday Pattern Company Arlo Track Jacket would be a great option.
(From left to right: Friday Pattern Company Arlo Track Jacket; Thread theory Carmanah sweater; Wardrobe by Me Ziggy Zipper hoodie; )
And of course, what would men’s winter wardrobe be without the classic flannel overshirt? Dash (Austin Abrams) serves an amazing inspiration for it in Dash and Lilly.
(Dash & Lily, Netlfix)
We have a lovely range of warm and cosy flannels in a variety of colours you could use to make one.
A Thread Theory Fayrfield Button Up, a Wardrobe by me Men’s overshirt would be great options.
(Lefto to right: Wardrobe by me Overshirt Jacket; Thread Theory Fayrfield Button Up)
FANCY NIGHT OUT
Obviously, holidays mean party dresses and Christmas movies provide their fair share of inspiring festive frocks!
This year, why not go for clean simple lines with luxurious looking fabrics to create a fabulous timeless piece you could wear and re-wear all year round? The selection we have is versatile so you can get more wear out of your precious me-made but still dazzling enough to turn heads!
(Bridget Jones’ diary, Universal pictures)
Cowl necks are having a moment right now, and Bridget Jones’ (Renee Zellweger) little black dress with a cowl neck is just the perfect inspiration for this year’s holiday parties!
To recreate the perfect cowl neck LBD, use either our Atelier Brunette crepe viscose fabric in the Night colourway or our Cousette anthracite solid viscose crepe to sew a Sewing Masin Sicily slip dress, a MCCalls 8106 or a Tint of Mint Louise cowl neck.
(From left to right : Sewing Masin Sicily slip dress; Tint of Mint Louise cowl neck; MCCalls 8106)
Another high trend, coming to us straight from the 90’s, is the slip dress and there are many great examples in Dash & Lilly.
(Dash & Lily, Netlfix)
We have an amazing range of viscose satin fabrics that would be perfect to recreate Lily’s or Sofia’s (Keana Marie) slip dresses, as well as great Cupro bark wave fabrics that have a beautiful silky texture guaranteed to make you shine. Whether you’ll want to embellish them with fringes like Lily or not is your call!
(Fabrics featured from left to right: Elegance Purple Orchid Viscose Satin Fabric; Elegance Navy Blue Viscose Satin Fabric; Romance Pink - Cupro Tencel Bark Crepe; Romance Peachy Blush - Bemberg™ Cupro Bark Crepe)
Great pattern options include Tammy handmade’s Leona dress, Muna and Broad Nullarbor cami dress, Tessuti fabrics’s Sadie slip dress, Papercut Patterns Maya dress or Friday Pattern Company saltwater slip dress.
(From left to right: Tammy handmade Leona dress; Friday pattern company saltwater slip dress; Muna and Broad Nullarbor cami dress; Paper cut pattern Maya dress; Tessuti fabrics’s Sadie slip dress)
For more occasion-wear inspiration check our blog here.
COSY NIGHT IN
And of course, we couldn’t do a wrap up of the best Christmas movies’s sewing inspo without including cosy loungewear and sleepwear! Wrap yourself up in a blanket and prepare a nice cup of hot cocoa to get yourself in the mood for this section…
(Dash & Lily, Netlfix)
Are you looking to sew coordinated pyjama sets for the whole family? Netflix’s Dash and Lilly has the most wholesome scene where Lily’s entire family rocks very comfortable-looking red and black checked flannel PJs on Christmas day. And we have the ideal fabrics for it! (If you’re sewing for a family as big as Lilly’s though, we do hope for your sake you started your PJs in April!)
(Check out our large range of brushed cotton flannel fabrics including the ones featured above here)
Pyjama patterns for the whole family include Simplicity’s 1504 and Burda’s 2619. For men, you could also use Vogue’s V8964 and for kids Rebecca Page’s family Pjs or Burda Kid’s 9747. If you’re only after matching pyjama bottoms, you can opt for Tilly and the buttons Jamie and Joe Pjs bundle
(From left to right: Simplicity’s 1504; Burda 2619; Vogue V8964; Rebecca Page Family Pjs; Burda Kid 9747; Tilly and the buttons Jamie and Joe)
More than ever, loungewear is in, and while they used to be somewhat overlooked by home sewists, cosy homewear garments now feel like great pieces to invest time and money on. Again, for inspiration we can only turn to the Queen of cosy chic in Christmas movies: The Holiday’s Amanda Wood.
(The Holiday, Universal pictures)
To recreate these amazing sweatpants just chose any of our wonderful warm and cosy French Terry fabrics.
(Fabrics featured from left to the right: Mind the MAKER Organic Cotton Brushed Sweat, Atelier Brunette - Neroli Off-White French Terry Fabric)
With these, you can sew a pair of True Biais Hudson pants, a pair of Closet Core Plateau joggers or Grasser’s Sports trousers N°752
(From left to right: True Biais Hudson pants; Closet Core Plateau joggers; Grasser’s Sports trousers N°752)
For more inspiration on sewing a cosy loungewear check our blog here
Bridget Jones may make a lot of questionable fashion choices but there’s one outfit we’d still like to incorporate in our winter wardrobe: her iconic festive-printed pyjamas!
(Bridget Jones’ diary, Universal pictures)
Jones opted for penguins, but you could choose any of our amazing Rifle Paper co Christmas themed cottons from Holiday Classics to make a Closet Core Carolyn Pajama set, a Muna and Broad Spinifex Pjs set, an Alice & Co Whitechapel Pjs or a Sewing and the City Lexington Pyajama set.
(From left to right : Closet core Carolyn Pajamas; Muna and Broad Spinifex PJs; an Alice & Co Whitechapel Pjs; Sewing and the city Lexington Pyjama).
We hope you enjoyed this selection and that you feel inspired to sew for winter. Lamazi team wishes you wonderful holidays!
Clara @clara_made_it
A great article. Very informative and inspiring.
Thank you