I first designed this little ornament two years ago and offered the pattern on disdressed, my personal blog. It’s been quite popular. But I wasn’t entirely happy with the method we used to make it available, and I thought it might be fun to fix it up a bit and give it to you as a little holiday gift.

So here it is. (Click to download the .pdf.)

I’m making a bunch of these ornaments (24 or 25? I need your help deciding) as an advent calendar for S this year. They also make great little gifts or gift toppers, and can be embellished with leftover buttons or a little embroidery. They would also look amazing with a little reverse applique a la Alabama Chanin. (See her book for detailed instructions on this technique.)

Enjoy, and happy holidays from Oliver + S!

(P.S. If you need a little help with the blanket stitch for this pattern, Future Girl has a terrific tutorial that I highly recommend.)

I always have a difficult time letting go of Thanksgiving and moving into Christmas. Maybe it’s something about the family-oriented reflection of Thanksgiving versus the consumer pressure that seems to preceed Christmas (can you tell which holiday is my favorite?).

But really, I think it’s more about the colors.

Thanksgiving colors are rich autumnal golds, reds, and burgundies. Christmas is traditionally associated with two colors that I wouldn’t usually pair together: red and green.

Thus, the Harvest Dress.

This Tea Party dress was entirely fabric-inspired. It started with the golden yellow velveteen (velveteen is velvet made from cotton, which means it’s also washable and doesn’t have the sheen usually associated with velvet) which paired itself with a William Morris print fine-wale corduroy from Liberty of London.

I think it could be worn for Christmas as well as Thanksgiving.