Princess Dress Update

I got the go ahead for spaghetti straps for the princess dress. Here's a sketch of the re-designed bodice. I'm not sure what fabric I'm going to use...something inexpensive as we are, after all, talking about a play dress. Another reason for an inexpensive fabric is that I think it's going to take yards and yards of it counting petticoats, etc.

But at the same time, I want it to look very princess like. I haven't been to the fabric store in ages - it's safer that way - but I think it's time for a trip.

A Princess Dress

I got a phone call from my granddaughter the other day (yes, the same one who was the happy recipient of the BWOF ensemble and the dragonfly dress) asking for a princess dress. I am only too happy to oblige.

The dress will be for playing dress-up, I assume, so it's no holds barred, nothing is too far over the top! Yeah! What you see here are my preliminary sketches. I've gone ahead and designed it as sleeveless, but I'm asking my daughter for permission to go with spaghetti straps instead...as close as I want to get to strapless for a five year old (so I guess not every hold is barred). If I don't get the go ahead for spaghetti straps, I'll have to decide between the armhole with and the armhole without the ruffle.

No fabric has yet been chosen, but the color will, of course, be pink!

Aw, Shucks!

Gosh, it's good to be welcomed back by so many of you...I feel even more like a dog for dropping off the face of the earth, but it's nice to be missed.

Just a quick clarification, as there seems to be some confusion. I do have two grandchildren, but only one granddaughter. Kara is 5 and started Kindergarten on Monday, and her brother, John, is 2-1/2. Their new brother, Luke, will be making his debut on September 23rd.

A Disaster Narrowly Averted

As I mentioned in my previous post, my daughter bought a dress to wear in her brother-in-law's wedding, rather than having me make the Maggie London dress. She took the dress, which was cleverly purchased off the sale rack at Nordstrom, to the cleaner this week to have it steamed.

Daughter called this afternoon in a panic. She had picked the dress up today and there was a small, a tiny, a miniscule cut in the fabric, at the bottom of the center front pleat. She brought the dress over for me to have a look. The tiny cut was right right below the pleat and right on the pressed edge. It didn't show much, but it did show. I used a tiny piece of fusible knit interfacing on the inside to reinforce the area, then stitched the pleat another quarter of an inch down, turning the pressed edges under slightly to hide the cut. It worked acceptably well.

Now that cut may have been there before she dropped it off at the cleaners but there's no way to know for sure. Even though she asked that the dress be steamed, they pressed it; so what were soft folds became sharp creases. I suspect that the flaw was hidden in the fold and only became obvious when the pleats were pressed.

And as it turns out, they cut was the least of the problem. Not only did they do a poor job of pressing, but they managed to shrink the dress as well. Seriously, I could barely zip it up, even though it fit perfectly last week. I was certain that I was going to rip it if I pulled it together any tighter. We did finally manage to zip it all the way up, but it's uncomfortably tight. She figures she can wear it for the pictures and the ceremony, then change afterwards.

So as the title implies, disaster was averted, but by the narrowest of margins.

I'm Baa-aack!

And many thanks to those of you who were thoughtful enough to inquire about me while I was incommunicado. I hope you'll all accept my apologies for leaving you hanging. I lost my sewing mojo, I was busy with work and family, my computer was acting up and...I've been obsessed researching colleges for my youngest daughter, the main criteria being will she qualify for a fat scholarship at said colleges.

Well I'm still busy with work and family, still researching colleges and my mojo's still in hiding but I did get a nice, new 22" LCD Touch Screen All-In-One PC for my birthday (Friday). And my darling middle daughter, the mother of my two - soon to be three - adorable grandchildren, finally found the USB cable that had gone missing when they moved house So without further ado, here are pictures of my granddaughter in the dragonfly dress with hemstitching and the BWOF capris-not-bloomers and tunic.



I am still working on the Maggie London dress for my oldest daughter. She won't be using it for the wedding, and I must say, I'm happy about that. I was not looking forward to making that dress out of polyester crepe backed satin. I'm going to finish the practice dress using the cherry print cotton, then we're going to get something really nice and make a little black dress that will be a little more versatile. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Something Unexpected

Look what I found in my yard today! We don't have a lot of butterflies in Western Washington. They are uncommon enough that seeing one fly by on a hot day is a treat. So you can imagine how surprised I was when I found this absolutely perfect specimen on the ground in my garden today. It's actually not quite dead, but nearly. It was being attacked by tiny red ants when I found it, so I was just in time to preserve it. I'm pressed for time right now, so this was the best photo I could get in a hurry. I'll try to post one with better color later.

Refresher Course

Perhaps you remember these BWOF pants that I posted about here. Or maybe you don't. Either way, let me just say that my oldest and youngest daughters had serious doubts about the cuteness of these pants.

I finally got the pants mailed off to my granddaughter in Texas. There was quite a delay as they were moving and I didn't want to mail them until they were all settled in their new home. Anyway, I got a call from my daughter and granddaughter yesterday to let me know that the package had arrived and...they loved the pants! I am vindicated!

Photos of the my granddaughter wearing the pants along with the coordinating top (and the butterfly dress, too, but not at the same time) forthcoming...