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4.08.2014

A Sew Chic Kids Pinafore/Portabellopixie Hybrid + a Birthday Girl

I started sewing for Kids Clothes Week at 10:30 on Sunday night.  Though that was an hour and a half before it officially began, I figured it was nearly Kids Clothes Week on the east coast and hoped no one would hold it against me.  ;)

sew chic kids inspired pinafore

The truth is, yesterday was Tarikua's 5th birthday and I wanted to sew her birthday dress in time, without spending much of her birthday sewing.  We had far more important things to do, such as glazing breakfast pastries that we made the day before, meeting Dan for lunch at our favorite biker burrito place, and baking a cake together.  Sewing had to play second fiddle to all of that.

sew chic kids inspired pinafore

But I did promise her a birthday dress.  When Dan headed to bed at 11:30, I assured him I'd be right in.  An hour later he glanced at the clock when Iris stirred to snuggle in closer to him and noticed my side of the bed was still empty.  He told me he thought - Oh, Rach's in the groove... and then had visions of me sewing that resembled a clip out of Edward Scissorhands.

sew chic kids inspired pinafore

It wasn't exactly like that, but I will admit, it was rather thrilling to be sewing as the clock struck midnight and KCW officially commenced in my time zone.

sew chic kids inspired pinafore

This dress is a hybrid between the Sew Chic Kids Pinfore R and the Portabellopixie Petal Knot dress.  I mentioned last time that I wasn't entirely happy with the yoke of the Sew Chic Kids pinafore.  I had planned to play around with that.  But then Tia came bouncing down wearing the once-Indigo's now-hers Petal Knot dress and it looked stunning on her.

portabellopixie petal knot dress

 Working off of the two patterns I came up with this: a Sew Chic Kids Pinafore with a (much) more gathered skirt, a curved yoke, and less room in the underarm.  The pinafore pattern is probably ideal for layering, which gives it a roomier fit.  However, I knew Tia would wear it alone, so I wanted more coverage.

sew chic kids inspired pinafore

 Tia actually picked this color combination for this dress as I was playing around with different options on the living room floor.  Yes, my heart beamed.

sew chic kids inspired pinafore

I had the hardest time deciding which buttons to use.  I must have texted Dan 6 or 7 photos of button choices, asking him to weigh in.  We were torn between these and some vintage floral ones.  In fact, the conversation went like this:


"We will just have to live with the consequences!"  Ha!

sew chic kids inspired pinafore


With her dress finished, the birthday girl and I had the best time baking her cake together.

Tarikau's birthday

We made this chocolate cake recommended by Gail.  It was amazing.  We used this chocolate frosting.  I decorated the cake with gumballs, inspired by this pin (though hers were marzipan balls).   I also learned from reading the cake post that I was confusing the terms 'frosting' and 'icing'.   Whew!  Glad she set me straight on that one!  :)

tarikua's birthday

It was a lovely day with our birthday girl.  At five, she was completely thrilled with a day of homemade goodies, a big bunch of balloons, a few presents, and homemade cards and gifts from her older siblings.  Iris must have sang 'happy birthday' to her a dozen times.  It was simple, yes, which made her enthusiasm about it all the more beautiful.


She's such a great kid!

tarikua's birthday

32 comments:

  1. Ahhhh. I didn't think I could like this pattern any more, but you've gone and made it even better. And the colors! Good choice, Tia. Happy birthday, kiddo!

    Your text messages - cracking me up! I am always pulling my husband or brother in to help with decision making, and they're always like, "uh ...? whatever, it will look nice ... " *backing away slowly like it's a trick question* You'd think I asked them whether something made me look fat or something, hahaha. Luckily, Joe always has an opinion.

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  2. happy B-day to Tia! she looks great in her new dress :)

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  3. I absolutely love the colors she chose and the style of dress looks so cute on her! A perfect birthday dress!

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  4. this dress is so gorgeous! and happy belated birthday to your sweet daugther!

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  5. Happy birthday, Tia!
    And what an amazing dress! You are using my two favorite colors at the moment (is that Cotton Couture in Gold, by any chance??)
    xo,
    an

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    1. Apparently, it's "Freespirit Designer Solid in Spark Gold." It's the same fabric I used for the collar of my first Hanimi dress. Awww. ;)
      http://quilthome.com/product_info.php/products_id/9002%20:)

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  6. Happy Birthday, Tarikua! Not only are you a fabulous five year old but you obviously have an excellent eye for color and design if you picked those two fabrics to go together! I'm impresssed, kiddo :)

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    1. Thanks, Carolyn. I may not have worded that very clearly. I had several color combinations laid out on the floor. I was leaning toward one that used a soft pink for the skirt, which I assumed she’d like best, too, being it’s more stereotypically girlish. She said, “No, Mom, I like THAT one best” which was (obviously) the mint and gold. I was impressed she liked that combo best. So no, there was not a pile of 240 kona cottons on my floor and she just so happened to chose these two colors. haha!

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  7. JUST discovered your blog via KCW, and I adore everything about the project and your blog, the pattern, the style, the simplicity. That darling little girl of yours doesn't hurt, either! ;)

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  8. happy birthday to tarikua!! she's beautiful and so is her dress! seriously, she looks like an angel! i love the simple solids - great color combo and great buttons! :) i'm soooo glad you liked the cake, i always worry about recommending recipes...but it's so tender and delicious, right?

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  9. Everything about this dress and your day is beautiful!

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  10. Happy Birthday to that beautiful girl! Man, she is just a BEAUTY. The dress is just perfect... I love it all! I think she and I are channeling each other's fabric selections. I seriously have the exact colors (with a couple others that might make the cut) on my table as we speak... cotton couture??

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  11. Ha... I saw An's comment. Cotton couture in gold is currently my fave!

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    1. Thank you, Erin! And I was even surprised it wasn't cotton couture. I had to look that one up to be sure. Also I was remembering your geranium with the gold flutter sleeves as I was sewing this. :)

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  12. Happiest of birthdays Darling Girl.
    Family days are the best.

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  13. Gorgeous dress and birthday girl. I love the richness of the mustard colour and the consequential bubble buttons!!

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  14. happy happy birthday to tia!! she's so beautiful and so is this dress! i'm a huge fan of the color combo too (and the colors of these photos in general - gorgeous). gotta try that cake!!

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  15. Happy birthday, beautiful Tia! My chocolate girl turned twelve today :-)
    You made her a wonderful party dress, love the color combo! And I'll telle you a secret: I started sewing for kwc on Saturday... (But don't tell anyone... :-))

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  16. What a stunning dress! I'll have to try more mixing of solids- what a stunning color combination. Beautiful work, as always. And a birthday with family and good food is perfect in my book!

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  17. Everything you've been stitching up is absolutely gorgeous, Rachel! And it sounds like non-stop festivities in your household -so fun!

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  18. Happy belated birthday, Tia! Turning five . . . that's a milestone bday, and certainly deserving of a beautiful new dress for the occasion. She absolutely rocked the fabric colors! A little fashionista, perhaps?:) The top photo of her with the stunning backlighting is just gorgeous, as are the birthday cake photos. Can I ask a quick photography question? Where do you focus when you take those pictures? If I meter off the candles, then the rest of the photo is too dark, but if I meter off my child's face, the candles look dull. You seem to have found the sweet spot as these photos are so beautiful!
    Love how you blended the two patterns . . . you certainly made the dress your (and Tarikua's!) own!

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    1. Hi Lucinda,
      I think you are right that you are technically supposed to meter off of the child's face. I don't do that for most of my pictures though. I do shoot in RAW so I have more flexibility to edit exposure. And I also take a few test shots and then look at the back of my camera and see how they look to get a general idea. :)

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    2. Thanks Rachel:) My photographer friend is always trying to convince me to go "RAW" (and not in a foodie way:), but I have yet to do so. Perhaps I should consider it again as I do like the post-flexibility it gives you. Thanks for your tips, and as always - stunning photos!
      I'm sure you need a bit of a breather this week from the busy-ness of last week! May you be able to find it in the quiet moments:)

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    3. I love it. The downside is that you do have to edit every single photo if you shoot in RAW whereas when you shoot in jpeg your camera processes the photo for you. So I guess it depends on how hardcore you want to be. :)

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  19. Such a beautiful dress. She chose such lovely colours and gee Dan picked the right buttons, didn't he (I'm noting this next to the burlap ribbon and glue gun ticks next to this man's name!)
    happy birthday Tia and congratulations Rachel on the sewing, the gorgeous kid and the divine photos!

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  20. So much to love in this post. 1) Your husband is hilarious! And LOVE the Edward Scissorhands reference. 2) LOVE Iris singing happy birthday a bunch--wish I could witness. So cute! 3) Tia looks awesome! Belated happy birthday!

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