I still have so much fabric left over from the weekly photos I took of the girls during their first year. Alma and Harriet are outgrowing the dresses I made them last Winter. Valentine’s Day is coming up. So… I made some new dresses for the girls.
I have to admit that I never thought I would be the kind of mom who would dress her daughters in matching dresses. Turns out I am that kind of mom. I am totally that kind of mom. I’ve done it more than I expected, and I love it every single time. So be it. Can you blame me?
I mean, seriously. They are just the two cutest sisters that ever were. Especially when they make the same absurd random expression. Don’t even ask, I have no idea.
The end of October brings two things: Halloween and November. First things first, let’s get to Halloween. It was Alma and Harriet’s first time carving pumpkins this year. I have to admit it went much better than I expected! The promise of cinnamon rolls probably helped.
This year my girls are Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf. I made Alma’s dress using the same Shwin and Shwin pattern I’ve used before (here and here and here) for my base, but really altered it. I made a circle skirt and added a petticoat layer. The dress is so fun and twirly. I also did snaps instead of buttons or a zipper. Snaps are my jam these days.
For the cape and hood, I used Oliver + S’s pattern from their Little Things to Sew book. I used a cozy flannel for both the dress and the lining of the cape. The outside of the cape is red velvet because it doesn’t get more Little Red Riding Hood than red velvet.
Grrrrrrrrrrr
Harriet’s costume is a little more thrown together. I made the hat with wolf ears (that sort of looks like Yoda ears) using a pattern from the same Oliver+S book. It’s made out of flannel, with a plaid flannel lining. The vest is borrowed from Harriet’s friend Elsa. The makeup is by me and my eyeliner pencil. The tail is just a bunch of yarn I combed and pinned to her pants. She loves growling these days, so a wolf is kind of perfect. Today they got to wear their costumes to school. Hopefully they come home with all the parts and pieces.
Grrrrrrr!
So, next up is November! My favorite because we get to anticipate the anticipatory season on Advent, which is my favorite! It’s kind of like how Thursday is fun because you know Friday is coming up.
I’ve been doing the #30daysofgratitude project on Instagram for at least 3 years. I love being mindfully grateful (as evidenced by 2014 and my 365 days of gratitude). During my year of gratitude, I would write down one thing each day – one word only. This November project is more fun because it can be a full sentence, a story, or a word – in addition to the photo.
The thing about these hashtag projects is that they are much more fun when friends play along (thanks for joining me with my #93summerdays, Meredith!), so please join me this year! I know I’ll be joined with hundreds or thousands of strangers, but it’s fun to have friends and readers play along, too. I’ll be using the tried and true #30daysofgratitude hashtag, but I think I’ll add #30daysofgratitudeATT (for And Then They), just to keep things separate.
If you want to practice gratitude next month, please use both #30daysofgratitude and #30daysofgratitudeATT, so I’m sure to see your posts. Also, share your Instagram name in the comments, or comment on my posts so I can follow you! (Mine is carolynfwilliams)
Happy Halloween, and thanks for reading! I’m grateful for YOU!
This is funny! I thought one of the things on my Summer 2015 To Do List was to make new summer dresses for the girls. I just checked that list and my 35 Things to do Before I turn 35 list, and it’s not on either! Oh well!
So…. Guess what! I made new summer dresses for the girls for no reason other than the fact that I love doing it, and they are adorable.
And it was a reason to buy this fabric I have been coveting for months and years and decades. I absolutely love Sarah Jane Studios and we have a couple of her prints in the girls’ rooms. I also used some of her fabric in Alma’s quilt.
This is a ‘pattern’ that I made up last summer for Alma’s lion dress. It’s a really fun, simple dress to make. I’ve even helped a couple friends make them for their daughters this summer. I’m toying with a few ideas about how I could get this pattern out to a broader audience. Maybe a workshop for local sewists, or trying to figure out how to get a pdf pattern put together for download.
Anyhow, I used two different lines of fabric for the dresses. I made Harriet’s using fabric in the same design of a print in her bedroom. The kids on parade are so sweet, and Harriet loves, loves, loves balloons.
We spent the afternoon at the University of Oregon art museum, and I took advantage of the backdrops and lighting to get some photos of the girls in their dresses.
This was post-naptime, so Harriet’s dress is a little wrinkled. But that’s life when you’re always on a parade, right?The museum has an amazing program where the kids can pick up backpacks full of activities for the kids. They are mostly above our kids’ heads, but it’s fun to go through them and see what we can talk about.
Each backpack has colored pencils and paper, so aspiring artists can copy the art, or draw what they see. It’s sweet to see what other museum goers have drawn in the past. They also each have magnifying glasses which are always a hit.
The backpacks have themes to them. Alma picked one up and the Asian art they have at the museum. She found some little figurines and coins in a bottle.
We love going to the museum anyway, but the backpacks make our visits even more fun. I hope they keep these backpacks so we can watch how our kids grow and change during our museum visits!
As part of my resolution to sew from my stash, I decided to make new dresses for the girls. I used Shwin and Shwin’s Holiday Dress pattern for the bodices, and made some amazingly twirly skirts using my own mind.
A day in San Francisco seemed like the perfect time for the girls to wear the dresses. They were perfect – short sleeved, colorful, twirly, and fun. They had the added bonus of making the girls super easy to spot in a crowd.I was able to use some of the more random fabrics that I didn’t have any ideas for – ahem scissors – and also some of my cherished favorites. Both dresses have the purple flowers and matyroshka dolls, but the rest are unique. I love Alma’s mashallahs and Hattie’s bee sleeves. Alma’s dress has two big sparkly blue bottons. Harriet’s dress has the one leftover sparkly button, and a cute pink bubbly button. I loved making these dresses. They were really quick to sew, and really fun to wear. I’m planning on making a couple like it for an upcoming silent auction at Alma’s school, and maybe a few for the Etsy shop.
Also, check back tomorrow for more photos of our time in San Francisco!
For the girls’ Christmas dresses, I used Oliver + S’s Fairy Tale pattern (the same one I used for Harriet’s baptism dress) and solid fabrics from Piece By Piece. Alma got to wear her dress to the Nutcracker, and Harriet got to wear her dress to my dad’s Rotary meeting, but unfortunately, Alma was really sick on Christmas, so we skipped church, and didn’t have the kids wear their fancy Christmas dresses to Christmas Eve dinner at my dad’s.
Luckily, we’re really lazy and still have our Christmas decorations up, so before we went to Alma’s birthday party, we had a quick photo-shoot with Jesse’s old sled, decorated with some Christmas boughs.
It was Jesse’s idea to make Alma’s dress look like a Christmas tree. I thought it could be awesome or ridiculous, but I decided to go for it anyway!I raised the waistline and lengthened the skirt, and added a few extra layers. I think the tiers of green look really sweet, and I love the petal sleeves in this pattern.
For Harriet, the initial idea was to make it like a poinsettia, but in the end, I decided making petals would be too much, so I just lengthened it, and added the dark red lining, longer than the dress.I love how the Christmas dresses look Christmas-y, but are plain enough that they can wear them all year long. I also love how Harriet was totally mugging for the camera. She seriously cracks us up, all day long.
I was able to use some of the more random fabrics that I didn’t have any ideas for – ahem scissors – and also some of my cherished favorites. Both dresses have the purple flowers and matyroshka dolls, but the rest are unique. I love Alma’s mashallahs and Hattie’s bee sleeves. 
Alma’s dress has two big sparkly blue bottons. Harriet’s dress has the one leftover sparkly button, and a cute pink bubbly button. 
