Good morning, friends, I hope you had a lovely weekend! The weather was incredible here in Seattle, and we got to enjoy some outdoorsy fun including a birthday party at a farm (well, at least M and K did while I ran errands).
I have long been a fan of the Scandinavian design and aesthetic. Say what you will about IKEA, but I think so many of their products look sharp, and I love that they’re usually wallet-friendly even if they don’t always stand the test of time. When I saw the sweater knit fabric at Pacific Fabrics a few years ago, it evoked that Swedish sensibility and I had visions of a fall/winter dress for K.
So I made one. But it didn’t quite come out the way I had envisioned it. I used a pattern from this book; here’s the image of the “knit dress” from said book for reference:
As you can see, I made some modifications. I wanted it to be cold-weather appropriate so I lengthened the sleeves, and instead of patch pockets, I made side-seam ones, and I didn’t think the band on the bottom would look great with the printed knit so I extended the length by about three inches.
I don’t know…it’s not bad, but it just looks like an over-sized hooded sweatshirt instead of the charming dress I had concocted in my mind. Plus, I had issues with the neckline and it ended up a funky “v” shape and I wasn’t sure how to fix it (see the book image above for reference on how it’s supposed to look).
The good news is that K loves it. It’s super comfortable, in her favorite color and she’s enamored with pockets and hoods. So although it’s not the garment I’d hoped for, it’s still a winner, I think.
I had some of this fabric left over and another image in the same book caught my eye:
I thought the silhouette was fun, and I had just enough of the Swedish-ish fabric left for the bodice. I patched together some scrap knits I found (the skirt is supposed to be made out of a woven, but I wanted knit all the way). Again, I made some changes. I added long sleeves, lengthened the skirt and used elastic instead of ties for the hem. I knew that K would get all tangled up in those ties. I swooped it from my sewing machine, held it up to study it, and felt like something was just a little bit off. I just wasn’t crazy about the way the skirt hung limply:
I contemplated removing the elastic, but instead I tightened it to make the skirt “bubble” more, and it was suddenly so much cuter. I think taking out the elastic and shortening the skirt a tiny touch would also work.
This too, K loves. The jeggings are from the Mini Me outfit, and these are worn constantly. Ignore the white specks on her left leg – not sure what they are. The scooped neck is a little low, so later on in the day, we turned the dress around and it was perfect though I don’t have any photographic evidence.
One of the tricks I use to get K to take photos every week is that I let her listen to songs she likes on my ipad while I snap away. This week it was “Dumb Ways To Die“, which makes me question my parenting skills (particularly the lyrics that go “Use you privates for piranha bait” and the bit about drug dealers — I get that they’re supposed to serve as warnings in an entertaining way, but I fear that it may give her ideas for pranks. I have to admit, the song is funny), but K is obsessed with this song and has memorized almost the entire thing. She’s belting out “Die-aye-aye-aye” above.
All in all, a productive sewing week of trying my hand at modifying patterns! What do you think of the dresses?
Well, like every week and every day you nailed it again! You just gave me an idea about a similar print I have and haven’t had the guts to cut yet. Nice outfits Sanae and I like how you fix up the second outfit much better! It is five 30 am here in San Francisco and I just traced a pattern that hopefully will be ready for those KCWC for fall coming up. Have a wonderful creative week! Cheers!
Oh, the bright yellow suitcase it’s to die for, may I ask where did you get it? Sooooo cute!
Thank you Patty! Excited to see what you make. 🙂 The yellow suitcase was a gift from my mom to K, but I’ve gotten similar ones from the Land of Nod — they’re made out of cardboard!
Really love both outfits, have been trying to psyche myself up to sew something with a hood on for autumn for my little girl Neve, she’d love these outfits 🙂
Neve is such a great name, I love it! The hood part is fairly easy, but it’s always the binding that gets me all flummoxed. Thanks for the kind words, Shelli!
Super cute! I love the first dress. I’ve had my eye on a similar pattern for my daughter, so maybe I’ll give it a try. Looks really comfy! I love how making the skirt into a bubble completely transformed the look of the second dress. So very creative! I’m so inspired by your courage at trying new things and modifying patterns 🙂
Thanks, Fiona 🙂 K wore the hoodie dress all day today with a stripey scarf and declared it very warm and comfy! I think I want to try this pattern in a solid knit as well. And it’s fun to see how little tweaks can change things!
Makes me want to forget about doing anything else and sew all day long. Oh well such is life, back to laundry and then grocery shopping…I need clean underwear and some food in the house. love love love both outfits.
Haha! I had to do all that today too. It had been a while since I had done any real grocery shopping, so the guy at Trader Joe’s was a little overwhelmed by my cart! 🙂
I love how you are able to take a Japanese pattern and make it your own, that little “Sanae-spin” that we have all come to love:) These dresses are, of course, simply fabulous. I love the knit print (I did think of IKEA when I saw it!) and it translates so well into such cute outfits for K. And the real win? How much K loves them! Because really, what is more frustrating that working hard on an outfit for our girls, only to have them languish in the closet unloved. K looks adorable in them, and those leggings are going to get a lot of good use:)
I’ve never peeked through that particular pattern book . . . it looks like a good one! How I wish I lived closer to Kinokuniya!
I know, as soon as I saw the fabric, IKEA flashed through my mind. 🙂 Isn’t that the worst when the handmades get completely ignored? There are quite a few of those in K’s closet…thanks for the comment love, Lucinda!
Love the dresses and love the song! I really love the video for the song as well 🙂
I love the video too! It reminds me of this series of books I read as a kid – there were titles like Mr. Big and lots of funny characters.
Seeing your initial frustration through into this creation for your daughter shows how our “mistakes” can lead the way to something we would never have envisioned without them. Both outfits are informed by artful lines that contain a distilled simplicity and energy when worn by your daughter.
Thanks for the inspiration ~
Joan
I appreciate your lovely words, Joan — somehow it feels like they elevated my haphazard sewing into something very refined…thank you!
“sell both your kidneys on the internet. Eat a tube of super glue … I wonder what’s this red button do?” … I never knew there were so many dumb ways to die!!
Love the fabric print!
Hilarious, right? The print makes me think of Scandinavian china, which I’m very fond of 🙂
(Haha, I have a trip to Ikea planned this week!)
So, I am also learning about music on your blog! Such a funny song, I can see K dancing to it in the pictures! Oh, and that suitcase! – K always uses the coolest props!
I adore the second outfit. Again, I would totally make it for me. It looks comfy and also stylish. I love how you changed the pattern so that it is not a toddler outfit anymore.
K was totally dancing to the tune! The suitcase was something I quickly grabbed to add some color, but K approved 🙂 I think the second outfit is playful yet cool – like Scandinavian design! Have a good IKEA trip, Ute!
I especially like that sweatshirt-style dress. I feel like a broken record, but I would wear the heck out of a dress like that! I have major K-wardrobe envy.
🙂 It’s the ultimate compliment from you, Morgan, thank you! So much easier to add variety and a touch more boldness in the outfits for K. For my own stuff I always end up wanting to make grey, grey, grey…
Love them both!! Especially the bubble bottom. I’m totally stealing the music idea…that’s brilliant.
K is all about music, so she was thrilled when she found out I’ll let her listen to Selena Gomez and Gangnam Style and all these crazy songs during photoshoots. 🙂 thanks, Melissa!
Great practical dresses. I especially love the piecing on the second one.
Good idea for music. My son would totally be into that (sadly it’s Queen’s We Will Rock You that he’s obsessed with at present)
Thanks, Shelley! We Will Rock You is great! Much, much better than The Hannah Montana stuff we end up playing…though maybe I have an inner tween because sometimes I find myself rocking out to the music.
What a difference that tightened elastic made!! I love the trial-and-error process… Well, I like it when it works out successfully, that is!
Too true, Monica! Such a disappointment when an “experiment” goes terribly awry 🙂
These look so comfy! I am totally jealous of the jeggings. I want a pair for myself and each of my girls. Another superb outfit for us to drool over 🙂
Thank you, Tracy! Jeggings are the way to go. K used to have a store-bought version complete with pockets and yellow top stitching when she was a baby that I loved 🙂