I loved the folksy feel of that dress and spent several hours altering the Hide and Seek pattern to match this dress, ruffle sleeves and all.
It was one of those wah-wah-wahhh moments where it looked great... on the hanger but not on my girls.
I actually made this dress for Tarikua but she was swimming in it. I needed a Plan B. So, I took off the sleeves, altered the bodice again and ended up with this for Indigo.
Perhaps I have a Vintage May hangover, because this dress feels distinctly vintage to me. Kind of Cindy Brady-ish.
It's a little short - it's not going to fit for long. In a way, I feel that adds to its vintage charm. Have you ever noticed how short some of those 50's and 60's little girls' dresses are? In our case, though, I'm envisioning it will be paired with leggings soon enough.
It was surprisingly tricky to trim out the yoke. Ultimately, what I found worked best was to sew the lace until about 1/2" away from each end. With the trim unattached, I could get it to lay exactly the way I wanted when I joined the bodice to the skirt.
The fabric is Grey Abbey Organic Folky Daisy in Mustard.
Altering patterns can be both frustrating and exhilarating. This dress was heavy on the former, but ended with the latter. All's well that ends well, I guess. ;)
And unrelated to sewing - there is not a lot of photographic evidence of either Jude or me. I don't sew a lot for either of us, and we both avoid having our photos taken whenever possible. :)
But this past weekend was Jude's second piano recital so he complied and granted me permission to take photos of him. :) Every year, there is a competition for memorizing music in which the winner gets a trophy. Most of the kids had been with our piano teacher since last May and Jude started in December. So the other kids had 7 more months of memorization time than Jude. He decided in February that he wanted to win the trophy, so he memorized 17 songs within only a few months! I really couldn't believe it!
You should've seen his face when he accepted that trophy! He also won a medal for "perfect practice" which meant he came prepared for every lesson. Go Jude!
Suspicious of the camera - I feel ya, Jude!
The teacher said, "Let's all give our students a round of applause." Jude leaned over and whispered to me, "I'm not going to clap for myself, Mom." I nodded and said, "That's very humble of you, Jude!" with a wink.
We're so proud of him!
Gorgeous dress! The yellow and the trim really do feel like they belong in a vintage children's book about fairies or some other charming thing. Jude must be very determined! So awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. My girls definitely do love fairies. And yeah, Jude is very determined. :)
DeleteThat dress is totally vintage, I absolutely love it! The color and the lace trim … gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteAnd a big hurray for Jude!!
Congratulations to Jude! 17 pieces memorized in a few months is a big achievement (I used to teach piano to kids). The dress is adorable and once you said Cindy Brady I had to agree - but she was always so cute.
ReplyDeleteOh that dress is so so pretty!! I love the lace and the fabric, it all! It does have a very vintagey feel to it. And, I just want to copy it for my own daughter ;) And congratulations to Jude, that is certainly something to be proud of!
ReplyDeleteThis is really lovely! You did an amazing job matching your pattern on the back. I am impressed! Congrats to Jude!
ReplyDeleteoh man it's gorgeous! indigo is looking so grown up i did a double take! love how you altered the H&S and added the trim. i really like the length of it - it seems "right" with the altered design for right now, and by fall it'll be the perfect tunic. of course lovely photos as always, too!
ReplyDeletethat is amazing! I love it.
ReplyDeleteThis is gorgeous- very well done, Rachel! And I totally get the Cindy Brady vibe! heehee. Congrats to Jude!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Erin!
DeleteWhat a fun and rewarding experience for Jude (and his momma:)! So gratifying as parents when we see their hard work pay off in such a tangible way. Heavens knows it won't always be that way in life, so it's really nice when it does!
ReplyDeleteAnd that dress!! Your modifications are beautiful. So glad you included a fabric source link, as that shadow of yellow is so perfectly lovely! And as the weather gets cooler in the fall, wouldn't it look cute paired with indigo skinny jeans? I'm sure she'll get lots of wear out of it yet, and then it's Tarikua's turn!
Lucinda, you always think of the best styling ideas! I think it would be cute with skinny jeans this fall! And yes, the good thing about Indigo's last few dresses coming out too short is that they will be perfect for Tia. Indigo is very tall and Tia is quite short. So I'm getting to the point that passing things down doesn't always work as well as it once did. With this dress and the persimmon dress, I think they might look a little silly if they were too long on her, you know?
DeleteA} (selfishly) Please, please, please, make patterns I can buy/use? Please? This an the Tea Collection romper have me mopey because I can't do that well enough yet.
ReplyDeleteB} (ess selfishly) Jude is a cutie-pie, too, and as a pianist myself I'm proud! Yay, music!!
Thank you, Kate! That's an enormous compliment. I'll bet you could find a vintage pattern like this one quite easily. You could try Etsy. And you may even find something like it at Joanns or Hobby Lobby, in their pattern books. When I was looking through them in search of a romper pattern, I was surprised by the number of vintage-looking patterns that they carried! Some looked identical to a few of the vintage patterns I already own.
DeleteI am IN LOVE with that fabric, and this dress. Yes, it's a little vintage, in exactly the way that I adore. Ah, gold and cream and lace ... ahhhhh. Sounds like it was quite the journey, but oh, I just adore the result.
ReplyDeleteGo Jude!! He is so good looking! He looks so much like you in that second photograph. :-)
I can't believe how different she looks with her hair pulled back! And that dress is just lovely! I love the color and trim! Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAnd go Jude! What an amazing accomplishment!
Love this dress. Jude is such a handsome boy - he shouldn't shy away from the camera.
ReplyDeleteHoly smokes, the pattern matching on the back!!! Awesome (and you were humble enough not to point it out. Classy, Rachel!)
ReplyDeleteThe dress is gorgeous. I love the lace trim.
Congratulations to Jude, nothing like hard work paying off.
Great fabric - I've looked at that line before but didn't even notice this print, it's so sweet! I love the sleeveless hide-and-seek. And she is absolutely stunning!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that dress, Rachel! Yes, it has such a charming vintage air.
ReplyDeleteThis is just beautiful! I love all the small details and the vintage feel. I have quite a few vintage patterns with those short hemlines and I lengthen them but still think they would be cute short!
ReplyDeleteThe dress does have a real vintage feel about it! Once again, all the fiddling was soooooooooooooooooooooooo worth it! I absolutely love the print, and ricrac goes so well with it. I now want this pattern...
ReplyDeleteThe dress is amazing! I love it. I had considered doing a sleeveless version of this pattern, but wasn't sure how it would look on my very narrow Clover. The short length looks so cute on her.
ReplyDeleteAnd super amazing on memorizing that many songs! So crazy!