My little girl is getting older, so I gave her a few options for an Easter dress this year. She vetoed all my options and pulled out this old dress from a resale store. It is too wide and too short for her to wear without a cami underneath. She wanted it made to fit her and in a spring color. Really!!! This dress is a cheap piece of polyester chiffon.
I need the "sewing mother of the year" award for falling for this adventure. I found a pattern, Simplicity 1702, which is similar, but ends at a size 8. My daughter is skinny and a size 8 will fit around, but not in length.
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| The dress she wanted copied. |
Next step, redraft and muslin.
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| Line drawing for Simplicity 1702 |
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| My redraft of the bodice to add the gathers. |
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| Muslin for her dream dress. |
My daughter was delighted with the muslin. I knew I was on the right track.
She was happy. I cut out the dress and let the cheap polyester chiffon sit for a few weeks. I dreaded sewing with it.
I still had images of linen or a sweet print in my head. Last Easter I made a beautiful
Vera Wang eyelet dress. When I realized Easter was two weeks away, I panicked and started sewing.
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| My daughter's dress Easter dress. |
As it turns out, polyester chiffon from High Fashion Fabrics is not a bear to sew with. My "made up" pattern went together well. The side zipper is half machine sewn in and half hand-picked.
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| Hand-picked zipper |
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| Back view. The dress fits well. |
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| Candy and a movie make a happy girl. |
Most importantly, my daughter LOVES this dress and wants another one like it. I am learning to sew what she wants, not what I think is cute. Many days, I am left wringing my hands with the desire to make what I want. I am slow to learn.
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| I did manage to embroidery a cute Easter t-shirt. Design from Embroidery Boutique. |
Happy Easter! Jesus is ALIVE!
Great job, Mom! Your daughter looks beautiful and you've managed to keep it age appropriate;) I think this conflict between mother/daughter ideas is the hardest at the age of your daughter. I remember I bought several of the Maja's Heirlooms patterns during this time (although I never got any of them made up). It was so difficult to find something, even RTW, for her to wear. She is now older and things have gotten a lot easier. I still let her choose the pattern and the fabric if we're sewing, however.
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