So, yeah, I’m a bit late in posting this. HA-HA! Go figure!
I applied myself to the Elsie Marley Kids Clothing Week Challenge Spring 2012 with blazing ferocity, and the result is a cute little Southerny apron-style sundress! Even I was not expecting it to turn out so “country”, but that’s where the fabric led me. Seems appropriate, since we live in the country, after all.
This is the first actual article of clothing that I’ve ever made! I started with vintage handmade curtains, acquired from a friend whose grandmother had moved into a retirement home, and who graciously allowed me to ransack her attic and basement for fabrics and other lovelies. I was thinking about actually using the curtains; they were so pretty, but totally not my style. She already had the lace trimmed and the tie-backs ruffled, so I decided to hack them up and sew them back together in a new configuration, like the Frankenstein that I am.
I used one tie-back and half of one curtain panel, and lined it with muslin for modesty’s sake. I didn’t use a pattern, as they terrify me and my mother has yet to instruct me on the ins-and-outs of such exotic things. I took some measurements, made some plans and adjustments and poorly-drawn diagrams, and used a cereal bowl to cut out the curvatures of the armpits — because that’s how we do things around here.
I love it, it’s adorable and precious — but Nola is less than thrilled. The whole week while I was working on it, she would ask, “Mommy workin’ on my dress?” Yet every time I try to put it on her, she says “No! No! I don’t want to wear it!” Freakin’ 2-year-olds, I swear. We’ll see how much actual wear it will get before she grows out of it. Glad I didn’t spend the extra time installing those pockets I was contemplating.
Maybe I’ll bust out another panel and make her something a little less “contemporary” and a little more “active”, so she can do all those things that her impulsive two-year-old brain compels her to do — i.e. chasing the dogs, rolling in the grass, jumping in mud puddles, throwing rocks at *whatever*, kicking her brother, etc.
Oh, but definitely with pockets this time.
