Good morning! Thank you for all the lovely comments and emails last week – we were all very touched and are holding dear the memories of M’s grandmother. I think K is so lucky to have actually known her wonderful great-grandma.
So today is Monday, and I almost didn’t have anything to share. K and I seem to have come down with a mild bug so I didn’t actually have a whole lot of energy for sewing this weekend, but I do have floral goodness that took minimal effort. I wanted to wrap up KCW summer with something colorful, and when I asked K what she wanted, she plucked out this thrifted fabric from my stash and instructed me to make a dress. She verbally described it so no sketch today.
I believe this fabric is 100% cotton, and it took an hour to make. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I used a pattern because it’s basically two rectangles and four straps (i.e. six rectangles). I didn’t want to mess with my bobbin holder tension thingy, so the shirring isn’t as tight as it could be, but really, for a dress that took a mere sixty minutes to make, I think it’s awesome.
K LOVES this fabric, and is very happy with the dress indeed.
Now, this rather breezy, glamorous maxi is actually my dress. I got it last year before my ready-to-wear abstention, and I’ve worn it…once. The fit at the top was horrible and too sheer and the mass of fabric with a ruffled bottom just didn’t look right on me.
K saw it in my “to alter” pile, and asked if she could wear it. Turns out that with a little strap adjustment and by hacking off about a dozen inches from the hem, it made a beautiful maxi for her. I also stitched the front together for modesty. So this is more of a re-fashion/alteration than a true-blue handmade garment, but I’m glad I spent the half hour repurposing this dress.
She specifically requested that the hem cover her feet. “Mommy,” she said sternly, “otherwise it wouldn’t have pizzazz.”
K is gaga over this dress and you can see how absolutely happy she is wearing it. Apparently there’s plenty of pizzazz. I feel like I’ve unlocked the secret door to the world where kids actually like wearing handmade clothes (or altered clothes, as it were). This KCW challenge was very eye-opening in that: 1) K has crazy good design skills 2) She actually enjoys getting photos taken when wearing something she likes and 3) It’s way more fun sewing clothes with K’s input. I’ll have to remember all this going forward.
Two dresses, one thrilled girl, and a satisfied mama. Not too shabby for an hour and a half, right?
Hi Sanae,
first let me say, that i’m so sad to hear about your loss. My great-grandmother passed away when my son was about a year old. We have a photo taken with five generations, my son an me, my father, my grandmonther and my greatgrandmother all in front of a big old oven in her living room. it’s one of my most beloved photos and my son always looks at this and asked me about her. You know, we always keep the loved ones in our heart, aren’t we?
Sending you hugs today
Marit
Thank you for such a heartwarming comment, Marit!! So very appreciated and I love your description of your photo!
What can I say? Lovely! I love your daughter’s confidence in all that posing. Truly great–dress(es) and girl.
She IS a confident model! I’m always quite astonished, but most kids are until they hit the age of about 9 or 10, right?
hmmm. not sure about that. my daughter in the moments she has to pose becomes quite self conscious. or maybe it is me who is not such a great photographer to begin with. but hey-i have an idea for you to do a post! how to get the most out of your model, or something along those lines
You’re the second person who’s suggested that topic, Asmita, so maybe there’s something I can come up with.
I do think it’s 99% K and her showmanship she’s inherited from her Daddy but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve…
1 1/2 hours?! You go!
I am drooling over the maxi, K wears is so well. Hope you and K feel better and big hugs all around!
Thank you Venus!! The shirring is pretty sloppy on account of the speediness, but I was pretty proud of the quick projects!
If anyone has pizzazz, it would be K! That girl . . . what a delight to have her share her awesome one-liners with you each day. Even better because she doesn’t realize how great they are:)
Great showing for 90 minutes of sewing! And sounds like this week of KCW has been relevatory in a few ways. Maybe I should learn to trust my little one’s design sense as well and not try to direct it quite as much. Never thought I had control issues until I started clashing with my girls on what looks good together:)
I hear you on the control issues…there were several designs by K that I just couldn’t bring myself to make because the color combinations were so…unique!
Pretty brilliant for an hour and a half! And K has amazing posing talent, that last picture of her in the maxi is so beautiful. It could be in Vogue! It sounds like you had great KCW experience and and learned so much. I truly enjoyed the new creative design team Sanae & K. I am wishing you a week full of pizzazz and a quick recovery and am saying good bye for 18 glorious days in Greece – I am leaving tomorrow with 8 dresses I made! I hope I will have some internet access so I will be able to read your blog
(And the shirring looks still great. I actually bought a second bobbin case so I could mess with the tension and don´t have to worry about it. Pretty pricey but a good investment.)
Have a fabulous vacation, Ute! 8 dresses! That’s so fantastic and I’m sure you will get zillions of compliments! What a good idea to get a second bobbin case – might need to try that.
Fabulous dresses! Pizzazz indeed! I love seeing how excited K is by her new dresses. An hour an a half well spent! I hope you’re both feeling better soon
Thanks Fiona! We’re both still a little “off” but my mom is in town and feeding us yummy food, so that’s helping a ton.
I am making that exact same shirred dress (following the tutorial here – http://www.ikatbag.com/2009/07/summer-dresses-1-shirred-spaghetti.html). It took me an hour just to do the shirring! LOL.
Definitely agree that input from the child translates to happier kid wearing mama-made clothes. I made a top for my youngest, and while she picked the fabric and seemed to like it while it was in progress, when I finally washed it and it was ready to wear today, she pouted and cried and gave it to her twin sister to wear. Ahh….
It’s so tricky to get kids to wear handmades, isn’t it? I was thrilled because after poo-pooing the stripey dress from last week, K picked it out to wear today! And I love ikatbag! Lier is hilarious!!
Fantastic wrap up Sanae! I need to make one of those shirred dresses, i think they are summer 100%! About the maxidress, K is rocking it! She looks gorgeous and the colours suit her very well.
Thanks, Maria! Whirred dresses are so comfortable, I love them! And yes, the maxi looks way better on her than on me
Super duper fast! Last year I made shirred dress too, have you seen this: http://lollipopgardencrafts.blogspot.ca/2013/05/what-i-did-last-summer-part-1-of-2.html
But I spent more than 1 hour to complete it! you’re superwoman, Sanae! :).
Your version looks great, Yeka! I’m sure your dress is much better made than mine – I found that I wasn’t too picky about keeping the shirring very even and just powered through since I wanted to get some shut-eye
way too cool that you were able to just fudge your old dress into a new one for your daughter! FULL of pizzazz
Thanks Tara – I love a good upcycle project
Love both of these – and I love that K is giving more and more input on the clothes you sew her. Those definitely end up being most loved, I think!