The 2026 12 Days Of Christmas Start Now!

🎄 The 15th annual 12 Days of Christmas at Pixie Faire!

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year — a season of creativity, generosity, and reflection. This year I wanted to continue to celebrate in a way that’s meaningful, fun, and deeply connected to what we love most: design, sewing, and growing together as makers.

So today, I’m excited to announce the 15th annual 12 Days of Christmas Celebration, inspired by the 15th anniversary of the Design Academy-12 Principles of Design.

Here’s how it works:

For the next 12 days, we’ll be sharing:

  • ✂️ One Design Academy Principle per day

  • 💡 A practical Design Tip you can use immediately

  • 💬 A daily blog comment prompt for you to earn entries in our giveaway

  • 🎁 A $100 Pixie Faire Gift Card giveaway — announced on January 6th

Each day we'll jump back to this blog post to highlight one of the twelve design principles and invite you to join the conversation by leaving a comment. Every comment is an entry to win the $100 gift card. The more you participate, the more entries you earn!

And there’s more....

These 12 principles are also the foundation of something very special coming in 2026…

✨ Sewing With Cinnamon & Friends 2026 Theme

Design Academy Reimagined: A Year-Long Sewing Masterclass

Twelve principles. Twelve months. One unforgettable year of growth.

In 2026, Cinnamon Miles is opening the vault and teaching the Design Academy like never before—fifteen years after she first published the landmark series that inspired thousands of sewists worldwide. This is a complete, modernized re-imagining, blending Liberty Jane’s iconic design principles with Sewing With Cinnamon’s techniques, challenges, and creative opportunities.

We're bringing the Design Academy into Sewing With Cinnamon in 2026 using the core principles to guide our 2026 topics and this year, there’s even more:
Historical fashion deep dives with guest instructor Shari Fuller. Designer spotlight showcases. Sew Powerful Purse crossover projects. And a brand-new challenge every month.

If you loved the original Design Academy, you haven’t seen anything yet!

Read all the detail of the 2026 overview HERE. Existing SWC members are already in! If you're not a member yet, we invite you to join us, it all starts on January 6, 2026.

The 12 Days of Christmas is your preview of what’s coming — and a great way to jump back into thinking like a designer and getting the most out of your Pixie Faire pattern collection.

Let’s celebrate creativity, learning, and sewing together this Christmas season.

Merry Christmas,
Cinnamon & Team Pixie Faire

 

🎁 12 Day's of Christmas Giveaway 

👉 Winner announced 1/6/26!


🎁 Day 1

Today (12/25) we kick things off with Principle #1: Proportion, and your first entry for the $100 Pixie Faire Gift Card.

💡Design Tip - Proportion: Scale is invisible when it's right and noticeable when it's wrong!

👉 To enter: Leave a comment under this blog post. Comment Prompt:
What’s your best tip for determining scale in relation to the doll you're sewing for?

🎁 Day 2

Today (12/26) we kick things off with Principle #2: Focal Point, and your second entry for the $100 Pixie Faire Gift Card.

💡Design Tip - Focal Point: Choose ONE star of the show. Whether it’s a bold fabric, a special embellishment, a unique neckline, or a pop of contrast — one clear focal point will always outperform several competing ones.

👉 To enter: Leave a comment under this blog post. Comment Prompt: What’s your favorite way to create a focal point — color, embellishment, trim, or fabric choice?

 

 

🎁 Day 3

Today (12/27) we kick things off with Principle #3: Rhythm & Repetition, and your third entry for the $100 Pixie Faire Gift Card.

💡Design Tip - Rhythm & Repetition: Repeat a shape or color at least three times.
Two feels accidental. Three feels deliberate. Four or more creates strong visual rhythm.

👉 To enter: Leave a comment under this blog post. Comment Prompt: “What do you enjoy repeating most in your sewing — shapes, colors, stitching, or patterns?”

 

 

(Check back each day for the next comment prompt for additional entries!)

🎁 Day 4

🎁 Day 5

🎁 Day 6

🎁 Day 7

🎁 Day 8

🎁 Day 9

🎁 Day 10

🎁 Day 11

🎁 Day 12

 


29 Comments

Janet Fenton
Janet Fenton

December 25, 2025

Time to start new

Karyn
Karyn

December 25, 2025

The hard part is to remember that your doll, generally, is a child, and the adult is how scale measures. An 18" doll is about 1/4 scale, but as a child, it would probably have a 24" adult, which is 1/3. While fabric shopping, I cut 3×5 and 4×6 cards into 3×3 and 4×4 to make a quick measurement.

Norma
Norma

December 25, 2025

Scale is a fun thing for me. Most of my sewing is done with scraps of fabric from various garments that I have made over the years. When I have a fabric with a rather large design, or even large design, considering the size of the doll, I tend to blend it with solids so as to reduce the impact, or I cover it with a lace to distract. Yes, sometimes it works well and other times it fails but it is fun to try and my great granddaughter loves them and does not consider scale an issue.

Anne
Anne

December 25, 2025

Measure – measure again – then cut. This will avoid unnecessary headaches and will help in the making of a well fitted article of clothing.

Leslie Jo
Leslie Jo

December 25, 2025

Choose a print no larger than the doll’s hand.

Julie P.
Julie P.

December 25, 2025

People always compliment me on my doll clothes. I like to visit quilt shops for my fabric because they carry smaller prints, the correct size for doll clothes and also the durability for lots of play.

Patty
Patty

December 25, 2025

I hesitate to use any florals and stick to solids, small stripes and small checks

Jackie
Jackie

December 25, 2025

Measure twice and write it down, cut once.

Barbara Menninga
Barbara Menninga

December 25, 2025

Always use a very small print, small dots, and tiny stripes when sewing for dolls so the doll is not overwhelmed by out of proportion patterns.

Pamela Duxbury
Pamela Duxbury

December 25, 2025

Always be sure to measure the waist and chest of each doll you sew for, and keep it nearby when cutting out !

Maggie M
Maggie M

December 25, 2025

Measure the dolls body not just height

Sue D
Sue D

December 25, 2025

I don’t have a lot of experience with designing my own so I like the tips of choosing the right fabric weight and print size.

Jeana Riley
Jeana Riley

December 25, 2025

If I absolutely love a fabric with a design that is larger than I usually choose for doll clothes I select a pattern with minimal pieces and fewer details.

Cynthia
Cynthia

December 25, 2025

I think in terms of 1:12, 1:6, etc, and then choose prints and designs that complement the scale I am working towards.

Cindy
Cindy

December 25, 2025

Use small printed fabrics

Carolyn
Carolyn

December 25, 2025

Keep scale of prints on material small for doll clothes.

Diane Blaurock
Diane Blaurock

December 25, 2025

Remember fabric weight as well as print size. To drape right, we usually need thinner fabrics than we would use sewing for ourselves.

Laura
Laura

December 25, 2025

Fabrics don’t always scale down well for doll clothes. Like regular corduroy is going to be too bulky for most doll clothes but pinwhale can work just fine. Usually the lesser weight of fabrics will work better for small sizes.

T
T

December 25, 2025

Love to sew 14" and 18". Pick fabrics that work for both.

Cheri
Cheri

December 25, 2025

Thanks Barb it also reminded me when making long sleeve to measure that they will fit over the spread of the doll’s fingers…some are wider than others making it hard to get the top/dress on the doll.

Elaine
Elaine

December 25, 2025

I believe I read on your site to use the eyes of the doll. The flower or whatever should be no larger than their eyes.

Laurie Gregg
Laurie Gregg

December 25, 2025

Take a look at the clothes in your closet. Usually the prints have much smaller scale than we think.

Linda
Linda

December 25, 2025

Use the appropriate scale of print on fabric.

Liza
Liza

December 25, 2025

When printing an online pattern, be sure to select “actual size” when printing or it may be the wrong size.
Merry Christmas!

Helen
Helen

December 25, 2025

Sometimes a design that is too large can be placed so just a portion shows and adds a dash of flair! For example, I did an embroidery flower for a bodice. It was too big. So I placed it where a portion of the embroidery design went off the bodice. It looked great!

Candice Frederick
Candice Frederick

December 25, 2025

Use tiny prints to keep things to scale.

Barb
Barb

December 25, 2025

Remember that the 18" doll’s head is sometimes larger in proportion than on a human. And also the doll’s limbs don’t bend like humans. Keep this in mind when making a pullover top or dress. I’ve made a doll turtle neck top that was nearly impossible to get on!

Deanna
Deanna

December 25, 2025

The rule of thirds and balance

Dawne Ester
Dawne Ester

December 25, 2025

Love this!

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