Nesting - Creativity Takes Over

Making Dresses for the Girls

I had my step daughters here for a few weeks and thought I'd do some fun little projects with them.  So, with trips to the library, walks in the woods with the dog, and games being played, I thought we'd do something a bit more creative and out came the sewing machine.  Milla wanted to stay with Papa, and  Emma needed a bit of one-on-one time, so we made a little adventure out of it, and went to Anne and Max Cafe for iced tea and cake and then on to the Fabric Shop. 

She did make me laugh, all little kids like soft things or really sparkly things, so after touching the velour on the way in and saying ''Oooh I love this", like a little magpie she went up to this shiny ( think tinfoil) polyester/ lamee  ( I know I spelled it wrong I just can't figure out how the accent works on this keyboard), and said 'Ooooh, this is what I want to make my dress out of.'   She was really insistent so,I said, "oh sweetie, we can't use that, it's for... um.... couches."  The things we tell kids... I then tried to picture the most gaudy couch ever from Liberachi hell.. 

However all is well and we ended up with a couple of simple stretch cottons and Emma found a simple rayon material that had a cute flower design all over it. Then she found some lace she wanted to add to it and off we went.  She loved watching the fabric being cut out and then said to me, " I want to learn everything from you because I want to be a designer." Too cute.. However I think she may have picked the wrong person as these are the first two dresses I have ever made, and other than slip covers, and a couple of little bits and pieces, I am a total rookie. 


We got home and I took a couple of their old dresses and pinned them to the material and cut around them.  Doing the seams I really wished that I had an overlocker, but never mind, it just took longer than it would have otherwise.  The girls liked being measured, I think they found it special to watch something made for them that they could help to design themselves.  Milla wanted a short dress, which actually came out a bit shorter than expected (whoops)  and Emma wanted a longer one. 


So after a day's work, two dresses and two matching headbands were complete.  I took a couple of pictures of them, and with huge grins on their faces they posed for me.  Milla started leaping around and posing, so I got a couple of cute shots, until the theme tune of Dora The Explorer played and then off they went to hear all about the baby jaguar who had to find a mountain.  Or something like that.

Milla is now saying that she wants to wear the dress every day.  I said, " If you wear the same dress every day, you will be known as stinky Milla."  she said, " We can wash it" I said, "Ok, but then you will be known as polka dotted Milla, and like batman  no one will recognise you without your polka dots on." She didn't seem to mind, and shrugged her shoulders.  So for the last three days she has worn it every day and it has been washed every night... haha.  

Here is a blanket that I knitted as well. My dog and the kids commandeer it most of the time.   I actually strongly recommend that you don't knit a blanket because it takes forever...