Friday, June 12, 2015

momma makes dresses

























At 8:40 yesterday morning
I pulled out a stack of fabric and told the girls they could each design a dress.
(I'd already made my dress the day before.
And the day before that,
I'd made Lily one with the fabric that was left after cutting mine out
and on old t-shirt.
The evening before I made Lily's first (un-photographed) dress, 
I'd made a pattern for the girls'
from a dress we got at a yard sale last year,
enlarging it slightly.)

Lexi didn't want different fabrics for the bodice and skirt,
so I just combined the two pieces when I cut it out,
and changed the angle of the skirt portion slightly.

I sewed from 9 'til 11:45
and then for another hour and 45 minutes in the afternoon.
Knit sewing is the bomb. 
Wearing sewn knits 
is also the bomb ;-)

I didn't want to take the time to look for a matching (sewing machine) thread for Lexi's neck binding, 
so I grabbed the silk thread I've been using on the quilt, which matched one of the greens perfectly.
In hindsight, 
digging around for thread would have been faster.
I wasn't thinking I'd have to sew the armhole binding
to match the neck...

I could have skipped the binding on Lily's hem, and just turned it under instead,
which would have been faster,
but I really like how it ties everything together
and it makes the skirt flare nicely,
so I'm glad I took the extra time.

I normally am not a fan of the zig-zag stitch,
and rarely use it for topstitching.
I think it screams 'homemade'.
But on this, I thought it was the best option,
and I think it works.

For both of the girls' dresses 
I used the sew the folded in half strip of fabric to the wrong side
and fold it over onto the front method of binding.
In retrospect,
a double folded binding strip sandwiching the dress would have looked a little better.

Even though there are things I'd do differently next time,
I am so so pleased with all of these makes.
They may whisper hand-made with love
but they certainly don't holler homemade.
Momma loves you girls,
and I love sewing things that suit you perfectly!
XO

8 comments:

  1. You all look gorgeous! And dresses are just beautiful. I love the binding with hand-stitch on Lexi's dress :))

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  2. Great dresses ... I spy some Morning Walk (^_^).

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  3. So adorable! Cuter than most that I have seen this season from Land's End and Hanna Andersson - from where I buy most of my girls' dresses.

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  4. Thanks, ya'll :-)
    (Stephanie ~ you do!)

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  5. These are precious!! I wish my only daughter was still young enough for me to make her dresses. Boys aren't nearly so enthusiastic about hand made clothes. But, like handquilting, clothing is something I love to see other people doing but I'm honestly not that great at myself. Kudos to you for your very fine work.

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  6. The dresses and models are adorable. Love the pictures out in the meadow. I hope you are enlarging some of those pictures, I'd be hanging those all through the house.

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  7. Beautiful. Dresses, people, setting - all beautiful! I like the hand stitched bindings, and the zigzag works very well, too. Homemade is to be appreciated. More so when the hand of the maker shows, don't you think? Perfect touches!

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  8. All three girls look beautiful in their new dresses - you're looking so healthy and happy Tracy!

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