Monday, May 23, 2011

Summer Dress



I like to sew. I enjoy it . . . but I don't know if I would say I LOVE it. Too much of a good thing . . . sometimes isn't so good.

It's fun to sew crafty things and toys for my kids, but I think I find the most fun in creating clothes. There's just something so wonderful about taking a big sheet of fabric, cutting it into pieces and then using something as flimsy as thread to creating clothing to wear. I just love the process.

I thought I would sew a lot more for my daughter, but it looks like I'm averaging about one dress a year. I usually pick a really complicated pattern, and while I like challenging myself, by the end I'm burnt out. One dress a year seems to be about right--I don't like to spend all my time front of the sewing machine.

Two years ago I made my daughter this dress:
I really wanted to do something Oriental and my mother-in-law gave me this leftover fabric from a wedding so I had no excuse. The fabric turned out to be really hard to work with, and the pattern was quite a bit more challenging than I thought it would be. And then, after all was said and done, my daughter refused to wear it because it contained black. I wish she had told be about her aversion to black before I started the dress. After a couple of months of convincing I think I got her to finally wear the dress to church two or three times before she out grew it.


This is the dress from last year:

Look how silly I am--attempting black again after the lesson I learned the year before. But I just really wanted to make this black and white dress . . . so I did . . . and then (again) my daughter didn't want to wear it. After a few months she finally decided it was one of her favorites and the dress got it's share of wearing. Thank goodness.

As this last winter dragged on, and on, and on I needed a project to keep me busy indoors. The most ingenious thought finally came to me that I should make a dress my daughter actually likes. I tend to go for fancy and frilly, while she likes simple and comfortable. A summer dress would be the perfect thing to make. I decided to let her help pick out the pattern and the fabric, then she would be sure to like it. How fun would that be!

So off we headed to JoAnn's to flip through pattern books. We had a great time.


We then popped over to look at fabric, but didn't find anything we loved . . .


So we headed over to Hobby Lobby and found a much better selection. This is what we narrowed it down to. Can you tell she likes pink?


And of course she chose the pink on pink. I really wanted the brown with flowers, but she got to decided this one. It was so much fun picking out fabric together.


And look at the simplicity! Only four simple pieces. I need to make summer dresses more often. I'm definitely liking this.


And here's the finished product. My daughter loves it! I'm so happy that we're both happy.






Nice and cool for a hot summer day.



Yes. I think I'll have to stick with the summer dresses.


I'm linking to these parties this week!


P.S. The pattern I used to make the dress is Simplicity 2270



24 comments:

  1. It's a really beautiful dress! Feels like summer :)

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  2. What a cutie pie dress for a cutie pie! Love the fabric, love the simplicity, and I think it's just the sweetest thing that your daughter was involved in the whole project!

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  3. All of your creations are beautiful! And, that newest dress would look darling with a pair of tights or leggings underneath in the fall (if it still fits).

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  4. I love it! What pattern was it? My girls love dresses!

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  5. Oh, I think I see on one of the pics what pattern it is! :)

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  6. So so cute! I love that you let her help (and that she has a dinosaur book in her hand!)

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  7. I love the idea of letting her pick out the material and pattern. My son won't wear anything I make him so I've given up for now. I too want to know what pattern you used!

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  8. Love the dress! What a sweet dress for summertime!If you want to sew a reversible skirt, I need pattern testers!
    www.seaminglysmitten.blogspot.com
    Jenny

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  9. Love that dress! It looks like it could be easy which is what I go for in sewing. Nice work!

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  10. So cute! And what a beautiful girl too.

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  11. For those of you who were wondering, the pattern I used was Simplicity 2270.

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  12. At first glance, I thought the red oriental dress was the same one I made and then recently donated to good-will! How funny that we both used the exact same fabric AND pattern a couple of years ago to sew dresses for our daughters.

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  13. Oh how fun! I am SO jealous you get to do that with your daughter! I lost my first child; a girl. And then a year later had a boy. And then almost 3 yrs later ~ surprise TWIN BOYS! UGH! NO girls for me. But, skip ahead and I now have a granddaughter. YAY! I wish she were closer so I could go fabric shopping with her. That dress is just adorable. Oh, and I never turn down a chance to buy fabric. I totally would have bought the brown and pink fabric too. ha She may have loved it once it was all finished.

    Thanks for the pattern number. I might have to pick that up soon and make one myself. Rumor has it my granddaughter will be visiting us next month possibly.

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  14. What a great Mommy Daughter activity! I love that you let her pick everything out. I have 4 girls and they would love it to get to create their own dress. And your daughter has great taste. Crafter of the future.

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  15. ooo, I think even I could handle that dress. What pattern was it?

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  16. That is just the cutest!! The fabric is so pretty and I just LOVE the pattern! Great job!

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  17. Adorable! I just bought some of that fabric last week, cant wait to make something with it...

    ~JamieS@ Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom

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  18. oh I love the summer dress! I'd love if you linked this up to Sew Woodsy!

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  19. Great job & I love how this has become a special tradition with your daughter. Reminds me how fun it is to make them part of the process. Thanks for linking to Craftastic Monday:)

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  20. This is such a pretty dress, and your model is super cute too! Please stop by www.laughloveandcraft.com and link up to my Share the Wealth Wednesday Link Party! I'm your newest follower!

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  21. Love that dress!! Thanks for linking @'Sew Cute Tuesday'!

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  22. Great dress! Isn't it great when simple works out best?

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  23. Beautiful! All three dresses are gorgeous! Looks like a fun shoping trip!

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  24. VERY nice! I like the pink on pink too =)

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