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5.12.2016

Another Mori Dress in Double Gauze

After I made Iris' Mori dress, I knew I wanted to make one for Tia, too.


Tia and Iris have been in the cutest stage recently where they love to dress alike.  Since they don't have matching dresses, this often requires them to pair leggings with a tshirt - worn backward so any differences like a flower, bow or pizzazz-y print are facing the back.  From the front, it appears as though they match perfectly.


These wardrobe choices sometimes result in disapproving glances when we are out on our morning walks. When Jude and Indigo were small, if they were dressed haphazardly, people would give me understanding smiles.  But with a larger family, it results in looks of scorn!


In this case, we just keep on marching to the beat of our own drum.  Tia and Iris are finally becoming best friends, instead of frenemies, so I am not going to discourage this one bit.  At the same time, I do miss seeing them in their mama made dresses and I would feel sad if they gave up wearing them already.   And with the heat of the Texas summer creeping up on us, soon it will be far too hot for pants.  They both approved of wearing their matching "angel" dresses, even if they aren't exactly alike.


I made Tia's dress in this double gauze from the Imagine Gnats shop.  I made Iris's dress in a different brand of double gauze from Purl Soho.  The gauze from Purl Soho was fluffier, but incredibly hard to cut.  It would not stay on grain, I had to re-cut several pieces, and the skirt pieces looked a bit wonky - though fine in the end, when everything was sewn together.  I had previously never struggled with double gauze before and just thought my sewing game was off.   The double gauze from the Gnats shop is much more stable and is easy to work with.  Still, in the end, I was happy with both dresses.


For the contrasting panel, I again used a print from Joann's southwest section.  Then I added some gold piping.  Tia loves all things fancy so I knew this would be a detail that she would love... and it is!  Kids are so easy to please!


Here Tia is holding our latest, and hopefully last, addition to our backyard flock.  She is an Easter Egger (called an Ameraucana by hatcheries) who Indigo named Dumpling.  Indigo has wanted one ever since she had to give her previous one away, after we discovered he was a rooster.


We had to wait several months for this chick, since they are in very high demand.  They are friendly birds who also lay blue eggs.  So far Dumpling is a total sweetheart!


For Indigo's birthday, she also got three bantam silkies.  It is believed that this breed originated in Ancient China.  They will grow up to weigh less that 2 lbs and will lay eggs that are half the size of regular chicken eggs.


They have five toes instead of four and have black skin and bones.  Their fur feels more like silk than feathers and traders used to trick people by telling them that Silkies were half chicken and half rabbit.  They are also known for being docile, sweet and silly.  Some people call them the teddy bears of the chicken world.  If you haven't seen what one looks like when full grown check it out.  It's sure to put a smile on your face. 


Indigo asked for these silkies for her (April) birthday and we had to order them back in December being they sell out so quickly.


Our chickens have been such a source of joy and fun for our kids.  We love them so much!


If you're considering starting your own backyard flock, I highly recommend it!  And I highly recommend the Mori dress, too! 

24 comments:

  1. Perfect dress!! Ahhhh, I really love your contrast yoke panels. And the gold piping glams it up just a tiny bit and is wonderfully subtle but unexpected. I love seeing your kids with their chickens. The love and caring is so completely apparent. The gentle little hands clasping the contented little chick! I die! So sweet.

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  2. I just found out that we are allowed to keep two backyard chickens in my city (we may sneak in a few more, lol), and are hoping to get some next year. It will require insulated housing since we live up where winters are wintry. Just wondering how you house your chickens, though... Do you use a chicken tractor or permanent coop and allow them to roam free during the day?

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    1. Hi Heidi! We have a coop and recently built a fence to keep them contained to an area of the yard, which we covered with an aviary net. We used to let them free range, but then our neighbors' dog accidentally got into our yard and killed one of our chickens. Initially we thought she got in through a broken gate, but it turned out the dog can climb the fence! :0 They were able to fix that, but then we had a hawk swoop into our yard and take two of our chicks when they were around 3-4 weeks old. It even took one directly out of a pen that was not covered with an aviary net. That was during our "winter" when the leaves were off of the trees and bushes, giving the hawks very good visibility into our yard. Now we do let them free range all day, mostly only when we are outside with them, or in the afternoons when it is hot and we know they will stay underneath bushes. :)

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    2. Wow to both the dog and the hawk! Thanks for replying. I'm thinking that with our unfenced yard (though surrounded by tall trees all around), a chicken tractor or something similar is probably the way to go. Now to get our house and yard into proper shape to be able to actually get the chickens next year.

      I like the dresses too, by the way! So pretty with the big sleeves.

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  3. So pretty. Tia glows in those colors; the pop is gold is perfect. It is really sweet that they want to dress alike. My 6-year-old has recently rebelled against dressing like her sister. We had a good run, I guess!

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  4. So cute that they dress alike! If you start some twinning sewing, I'm sure the only thing they will wear are mama-made dresses! ;-)

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    1. I don't love the idea of sewing exactly the same thing twice so I am hoping they will go for this plan of similar dresses but not exactly matching! We'll see! :)

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  5. Gosh… I soooo like these dresses on your girls, they truly look adorable in them. The gold on Tia is just perfect. <3

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    1. Thank you! Tia does look so great in gold! I love that color on her!

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  6. OMG could these girls get any cutter :) I seriously laughed reading to what lengths they go to match! Well, now they have gorgeous Angel dresses that are (almost) identical ;)

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  7. So very beautiful! Love your photography and this dress. The special gold piping touch is perfect.

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  8. I just love that theyveantvyo wear matching dresses! 💙💙💙💙 The dress is stunning and the pictures are so beautiful!!! Love everything about this, including cute chickens! 🐓🐓🐣

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    1. That jibberish supposed to say 'that they love to" 😳😳 you know, me and typing are not friends. 😂😂

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  9. That is the sweetest picture of the two of them together in their matching angle dresses! Thanks for sharing the good info on the double gauze.

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  10. That child. She is like a little garden fairy. I'm sure she has wings ; )
    Very sweet capture of the two of them

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  11. Awww, thank you! I was debating with myself so much lately about what style to sew next. On the one hand I love simple and soft double gauze dresses (the poetic minimalist in me) while I constantly crush on Southwest-like Quilting Cottons (the cheerful child in me). This dress is the perfect solution for both parts and I couldn't be more inspired and happy about your genius strike here! I agree with the others: you pick your colours very wisely, they bring out the natural beauty and personality of your daughters so well.
    Bisous from France, Gisa

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  12. My sister and I were allowed to dress ourselves from quite an early age and there are some hilarious photos showing the results. My mother always said it didn't embarrass her since she wasn't the one wearing our unique "outfits." I'm sure my sister in her Easter dress (worn year round) with pastel tube socks pulled up to her knees got some double takes!

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  13. Just lovely.
    Your photography is just divine, you are very talented.

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  14. Such a pretty dress! Your backyard always looks like such an oasis. I love the chicken stories too. I've tried to tell my husband we should get some chickens, but he's not convinced.

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  15. As always I love your dresses for the girls. I dream that someday I will have the time :) We are however considering chickens. Silkies and Easter Eggers to be exact. Did you build your coop or did you buy a pre-fab one? We are working on the yard and coop first and will order chickens in December like you did. Just looking for suggestions on where to find a good coop and run. Thanks!

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    1. We bought one online but we are going to build a new one. The one we have is very hard to clean. And we bought it thinking we would have 3-4 chickens and now we have 7! So it's a bit small (ok for now since they are not full grown.) Be sure to bury hardware cloth around the sides and underneath so that an animal cannot dig underneath and get your chickens at night. We had an animal try to dig into our coop just last night! Poor chickens must have been so scared!

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    2. Thank so much Rachel. I think we are going to buy a coop run combination online with a large run. We will then reinforce it with hardware cloth under and around the sides. We don't think we can free range in our yard so the big run is essential for enough space.

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  16. Fantastic fabric choices. I love the contrasting bodice panels!

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