Easter Dresses At Last!

This winter I found some coordinating fabric on sale at my local quilt store and bought a bunch to make the girls Easter Dresses.

Colleen wanted pink and Aleah choose the blue fabric.  Their dresses use the same pattern.

Here's the back.  I didn't cut the sashes quite long enough, so we are going for the sailor knot look in back - I'm just going to pretend that I wanted it that way all along.

Emily choose the green fabric - of course.  Her dress was a simple A line.  She is tall and skinny, so I tried to alter the pattern - and made it too narrow through the shoulders and had to add the green sash to bring the waist down.  Ugggg.

Kate was stuck with whatever fabric had the most leftovers - blue with a green polka dot collar and pipping.  I knew the pattern ran big so I cut her dress a size smaller.  It could still fit a 4 year old through the shoulders.

Why am I so crazy about the fit?  I totally blame it on LiEr.  She wrote a series of posts on drafting patterns last fall and now instead of just saying, "Wow, what a pretty dress I made!  It fits!"  I find myself analyzing how it fits.  She made a monster!

Here are all the girls together.   Kate did not want to be taken away from Daddy to pose for pictures.  On the bright side, this way you get to see her cute coordinating bloomers.  :)

More outtakes for your enjoyment.

Do you have any tricks for taking pictures of children?  :)

Sewn with Kids

A. was invited to a birthday party and wanted to make something as a present.  We made a matching skirt for the Birthday Girl and her doll.  A. sewed the hem, side seams and zig-zagged the raw edges and I cut, sewed on the 2nd tier and the "thingy" where the elastic goes.  (Technical, I know.)

They turned out well, but I must admit that the sewing process was not my best "mom moment" and I lost my temper several times (I am going to blame it on other children coming in and out and being annoying, but it wasn't pretty).  What is it that makes sewing with kids so hard?  For me I think it was the fact that A. wanted to do it all by herself, but I really needed to be there at every moment overseeing the process.  At this age you can't just give general directions and walk away for a few minutes.  I know we will get there and it is important to me that my children learn to sew, but man...it is an intense process.

Thankfully, I was given a chance to redeem myself.  A. is totally obsessed with the idea of making doll clothes for her babies and not a day has gone by without her asking if we can start making them "right now!".  Yesterday evening we cut out the pieces for a doll dress.  I explained how the pattern worked, we found the pattern pieces, I pinned them on the fabric and she cut.  She only had to recut one piece.  Thankfully doll clothes are small, so it wasn't a big deal.

  

This afternoon, we sewed it all together.  I did the pinning again and would mark sewing lines with pen for her to follow.  Tricky seams like the neck and armholes I sewed, but she did a great deal of the sewing, zig-zagging and taking out of pins.  I would help guide the fabric regularly, but she was in charge of the pedal.  (I am doing this full disclosure, because my husband hates parents who do projects for their kids and I want to document/disclose the real division of labor for him - he was traumatized by pinewood derby races.)  A. also did some pressing, but by the time we decided that the skirt was too short and to add another layer to it, I was getting tired of the process and sewed on the last layer by myself.  BUT...I did not get frustrated or lose my temper this time, so I will count it as a success.  :)

Here is the happy girl with her doll.  

She has big plans for making all of the clothes featured in the pattern (help!).

I really am proud of her and her desire to learn how to sew and make things!

Good Job!