Today, I’m guest posting over at sewpony for the fantastic series, When We Were Young. The post will be up on sewpony later this afternoon (around 5pm US PST time), so I hope you’ll check it out!
Here’s the image that inspired my sewing…this is me, at age three-ish:
It was very very hard to decide on which ones to make. Below are a few of the other images my mom sent over, and though it’s tricky to see the details for some of them, I think they’re all so sweet… I really want to try to recreate the green dress in the upper left and the polka dot blouse with the black dress. That black dress is uber mini to the point of showing my underwear, so I cropped it. I think my favorite part is the cloche-looking knitted cap.
Which one do you like?
Hi Sanae,
of course i really like the kimono but the lavendish, half-armed cardi with the pearl buttons is so sweet, i think it would suit K very well. BTW: i love those old photographies. You are sweet!
Dear Greetings from germany
Marit
Dear greetings to you, Marit! That cardi was one of my favorites, I remember. There’s another, better photo of the whole outfit (it’s more of a coat dress), but my mom couldn’t find it.
Oh, this is killing me with it’s sweetness! You are so (so!) cute (love the bangs!). Your Mom was a rockstar, I love all of these. Top right, though, is my personal fave. Maybe you should re-create them all, I love that cardi, too, with the big buttons, and I would wear that polka-dot tie top in a heartbeat. I can’t wait to see your ‘take two’ of this series!
It’s the classic rice bowl bangs.
My mom isn’t too fussy about details so my bangs were always uneven! And yes, my mom is totally a rockstar.
Aww, what a cutie!
Thanks Liza Jane! Looking at these photos now, I can see bits of K (or I guess it’s the other way around), but K looks very much like her daddy
Oops! You made Yukata for K!? I was to make Jinbei for my little one this summer ( and will do)! Too many coincidences:) Well, can I say I don’t mean to follow you all around?
Your mom is so much talented as you and little you looks soooo adorable! Love your bang!
Haha, we must have the same sewing mojo, Shino! Summer always makes me think of yukatas, and since you’re from Japan, I imagine you have an even stronger association!
Indeed, photos are very sweet! and you look so cuteeeeeee!!! I like them all, but my favorites are the polka dot blouse with the black dress and the kimono.
I know, that polka dot blouse/dress combo is too cute for words. My mom has serious sewing/design chops.
They are all such sweet pics, you were a cutie! I love the kimono but the Easter dress is just adorable.
Thanks Karen! I think the orange bit at top of the Easter dress are hand-embroidered flowers, but the photo is so old and grainy, it’s hard to tell. I seem to have spent much of my childhood in too-short dresses…
Your mom made all these? I really shouldn’t be surprised, considering her daughter’s creative productivity:) My eyes immediately were drawn to the blue-ish cardigan with the sweet half sleeves. Love that one. Also love the one right above . . . looks like there’s some color-blocking going on – how modern your mom was:) Thanks for sharing these sweet pictures!
Hi Lucinda! This is only a teeny tiny fraction of the clothes my mom made me. I don’t think there was a moment when my mom wasn’t creating something. She even made clothes for my dad, and I have a photo of him rocking a hand-knitted cap with flowers and the most amazing floral shirt. My mom has a thing for flowers…
oh my god look at you! you were the picture perfect definition of adorable!!
i love that third pic, that pastel dress you wore with two ponytails.. so dreamy and whimsical
Thanks Jaya! Those were the kinds of dresses that my mom loved to make most. Tiered and girly and fairy-tale-esque. Good thing I was a girly-girl!
well you can’t go wrong with any of those outfits – so fun to see mini-Sanae! you are adorable!!
Thanks Gail! Maybe one day K will love to sew and will re-create outfits I made for her little one – how fun would that be??
geez… you were cute! Loving the bangs on you! And that kimono. And the one on the bottom right… come on.
Ha! Your comments always make me laugh, Erin.
I like all photos of little girl above. For the outfits, I faved kimono and blue cardi with 2 big buttons (only 2 buttons are seen :)). Thanks for sharing your old photos, Sanae. As for the yukata you made for K, I absolutely love it and yes, tutorial please!
Thanks Yeka! I was thinking I would make the cardi, but because the original full-length photo was lost, I decided on the kimono/yukata, which turned out to be a good thing! I don’t know that K would have liked the cardi as much…
i love the lavender cardigan and the sweet shirt with you holding the basket. Your post is up on my blog – thanks for sharing:))
Thanks Suz – looking forward to seeing all the other guest posts!
You have a million great outfits to choose from! I looked through my album and it’s all Christmas dresses and swimsuits…hm. Love the yukata and please do a tutorial!
There were tons of Christmas dresses in my album too! My mom also made a lot of bikinis for me and I usually wore either the top or the bottom but rarely together
Can’t wait to see what you make, Kristin!
It must have been wonderful growing up with a sewing mother! And such a talented one! It will be interesting to see if K follows that tradition one day! And I also thought I could detect something of you in K, esspecially from that last picture of you with the blouse. I also really loved the way K interpreted the yukata theme, especially her own belt! Thank you for sharing! And a tutorial would be most welcome