Good morning! I had such a great Mother’s Day, how was yours? K and M made me breakfast and I got about two thousand cards from K. It was fabulous.
So for this week’s outfit(s), I changed things up a little bit. I already had the pattern from this book and fabric selected in my mind, but I was curious to see what K would pick so I showed her the dress and asked her what colors she would want:
It turned out we were both in a pink sort of mood, but can you guess which was mine?
Yep, the ikat-inspired print. I don’t know why I keep using home decor weight fabric, but for this simple style dress, I thought it would work. I got it from here months ago, and sadly, they no longer carry it.
You can see that I screwed up a bit on the front panel. I didn’t have enough fabric and didn’t realize that I needed to cut the front panel on the fold until it was too late. Of course, my lack of fabric matching skills played out here, but I thought it might kind of look intentional? It would have been an easy fix, but I was feeling unambitious. I still think it’s really cute! I have just enough left to make a small pillow cover.
Turns out that K is a natural at this fabric selection thing. I love her version about a million times more. To me this looks fresh and sporty and though she didn’t specifically request knit, she was very particular about the colors (“magenta in the middle, peachy pink on the sides, Mommy”) and I didn’t have those colors in other types of fabric. And I’m trying really hard to bust my stash so I didn’t want to go out and buy anything.
She was pretty exhausted by the time we shot these yesterday afternoon – she had gotten up at 6:30am (a first for her. She’s never gotten up before 8:30am on her own). She’d been so excited to get everything prepared for Mother’s Day! Such sweetness.
That’s a dolphin whistle she has in her mouth – not the smartest purchase on my part. I think these are tissue jersey? Super thin and rather fiddly. The hem is a little uneven, but hardly noticeable.
Plus, it stretches to infinity, so she had a lot of fun with that.
What do you think? Which version do you like from our pink-off?
And thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway! The winner is MT, and I loved reading everyone’s dream jobs! Isn’t it fun to imagine the ideal career path? Sounds like there are a lot of future shop-keepers among us! I also found it inspiring that so many of you already have your dream jobs, and stay-at-home mom was often cited with some serious job satisfaction!
Oh Sanae – don’t make us pick! How can one choose when both are so gorgeous?! I love the ikat print (which I correctly predicted as being your choice:) and the contrast bias bound edge, but also love it sewn up in colorblocked knit – so fresh and modern looking. And I love how specific K was in her color choices – she clearly had a vision for what she wanted it to look like. She has inherited much of her mama’s awesome color sense:) My prediction is that the knit one will more wear, simply because of its comfort factor and because she took ownership in it (hmmm . . I should try that sometime!). But both are truly beautiful – and I love that pattern!
I figured you would guess which one was my pick, Lucinda
I agree that she’ll get a lot more wear out of the knit — she seems to really like both, which makes me happy!
Sanae, your question is simple, but it’s difficult for me to answer!
I can’t decide which one I like, love love both versions! I could guess which one is your version. K has aesthetic taste, she created nice and fresh color combo. Happy mother’s day to you (sorry a bit late), you got two thousand cards from K?? Oh…you’re lucky mom!
I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day, Yeka! Two thousand cards is a bit of an exaggeration but not by much – K made me SO many cards!
Awesome, awesome pattern. I love them both, but I especially love how specific your kid is.
It really is an awesome pattern! Super easy to make (when you don’t mess up cutting it the pattern as I did), comfy and very stylish!
Ooh I love both the dresses–yours and K’s. And I was laughing when you mentioned how you cut in the middle when it was supposed to be “on the fold.” That’s totally me, and I am apparently yet to learn my lesson and have done it already about twice. But seriously they look great, and I am sure they’ll get plenty of wear.
Haha! Thanks Asmita! Glad to know I’m not the only one who gets confused with patterns
Oh, LOVE!!! I love letting them pick out their own fabric, your girl IS a natural. Of course, I love them both…and how fantastic that the pattern translates so well with knits and wovens. Are most home decor fabrics dry clean only? Or do you just wash them the way you intend to be washing them in the future (does that make sense?).
~Monica
Thanks Monica! I’m not sure if most home decor fabric is dry clean only, but this fabric is cotton duck (though it feels and looks like linen) and is machine washable. Home decor weight fabric tends to be heavier and thicker in my experience.
I love both the version… not sure which is more of a favorite! But the pockets are the coolest part, they blend right in. Thanks for inspiring us!
The pockets are absolutely my favorite part of this pattern! For such a simple shift dress, I think this is such a fun design.
I can’t choose. I like them both!
So sweet of you, Maria! I like that the dresses look totally different even though they’re from the same pattern – I didn’t even change the sizing for the knit version and I like that it has a slouchier, looser feel. That might be because K stretched that dress to death though…
It’s so very cute! I won’t pick either – I like both and they look so different you wouldn’t even guess it’s the same pattern, I agree! Man I’d love to see K’s closet full of handmades someday.
Thanks Kristin! Haha, storage is definitely becoming an issue — the other day I heard K grunting like crazy because her pants/skirt drawer was so full she was having a hard time opening it…to be fair, it’s a small drawer…
sanae, that dress is a beautiful pattern!
i like the ikat more, because i love prints
the double pattern in the front, it truly looks like a well intended design detail.
but of course , seeing her enjoy her own selection, that one is an instant favorite!