In the last couple of months especially, K seems to have grown a foot (but really, it's only been an inch at most). She still looks nothing like me and makes me think of a french porcelain doll more than anything else. But there is not an iota of fragility about her. She's stubborn and raucous and loves a good joke. Oh, the jokes! There's nothing like a three-year-old working so hard to bring the house down. At any given moment, she'll sneak a look at you and say coyly, "Lamp pants!!" or some such and expectantly wait for laughter. You can't help but chuckle.
Here is the dress I made for K's preschool pageant (so cute!! the pageant, that is). I love this fabric. It's more of a gray-ish lilac and I used the ubiquitous pattern from the Girly Style Japanese craft book. ISBN 9784579111329 or ISBN 457911132X.
And up close and personal with my crooked top-stiching:
I have to say, this was a surprisingly easy dress to make. Lovely.
You'll notice that K is not modeling any of the dresses. I'm working on it, but they will most likely be headless shots due to a very protective daddy. Internet safety, baby.
It is always so quiet around here, isn't it? This time I have a legitimate excuse: I've been sewing. I am starting to whip out dresses for K like it's going out of style, and I'm venturing into designing the garments from scratch. I can't even tell you how much fun it is.
So here is one of my earlier creations a couple of weeks ago. The spring time dress. I modified a pattern and even added a fabric flower to add a touch of whimsy. It has cute little ties in the back and it's the much needed shot of color in this grey, grey city of ours. Someone forgot to tell the weather that it's June.
In full:
I have a lot more to share with you. At least four other dresses and a pair of pants. Perhaps even a top for me (a frustrating work-in-progress)...
In the meantime, here is a lovely shot of Roche Harbor as promised:
A few weeks ago, K's preschool had color-themed days. To my surprise, she had no appropriate clothing for orange day, so I whipped up the dress/tunic top in less than two hours. Super easy. From this book. I'm liking the vaguely 70s floral design and roomy construct. Here's the full view:
And here's K in blurriness, modeling the handmade goodness:
Other than this minor bit of industriousness, I've been so lazy.
I have fallen in love with everything at Les Amis, and thought I could easily reproduce their simple yet pretty clothes without the hefty price tag...so I half-heartedly attempted to draft my own patterns, and discovered that pattern-making is hard. I created one top that looked like prison garb, and another top that channeled a disgruntled mid-century housewife in a shapeless smock. So disappointing.
Other than that, K continues to busily plan her 4th birthday which is still a good three months in the future. Veggie eating is still our biggest challenge. But she's also so much less hyper-emotional these days, it's really lovely.
Spring is definitely making an appearance here, and we've reveled in glorious weather for the last few days. But now I see the gray clouds gathering with force, so rain it is again.
Oh, over Mother's Day weekend, we went to the San Juan Islands for the first time. Grandpa and Grandma from Indy showered K with affections and we luxuriated in beautiful Roche Harbor. MF and I even squeezed in a date and watched Iron Man 2 while stuffing our faces with popcorn and Raisinettes. Pictures to come.
