22 October 2012

F is for Fish

Clover didn't get to wear her "F" dress (no expletives intended) last week because she was sick, but she's such a good sick patient, that it wasn't hard to have her at home.  She never really complains when she's sick.  I had to ask her frequently if her throat was hurting and she would say, yes...it does, like she hadn't really noticed.  Too busy doing everything else a four year old does.
I had a friend who spends the majority of her sewing time quilting.  She called me up one day, saying she had gone through her fabric and had a stack she was getting rid of and wondered if I'd be interested.  Need she ask?  Not really, but she didn't want to be presumptuous.
One of the pieces was this Michael Miller "Carp" fabric.  She said she bought it with the intentions of making herself a big muumuu (yes, I had to look up that spelling) to lounge around in, but never did, and now she didn't care for it.  I told her I would use it for F week!
I would have never bought this fabric in the store, but as I began working with it, I was sad that there wasn't enough leftover for a skirt for me, I fell in love with it so much!  It is so soft and flowy, so it probably would have made the perfect muumuu.  I will keep that in mind when I'm itching to make one.  I made the dress (my own design) a little bit longer than I wanted because I didn't want to cut off too much of the pattern of the waves and splashing water, plus it might last a bit longer for her?  

Another fun thing about this was that my ric-rac got to come out and play...no, party!  I don't use a lot of ric-rac normally, but I knew I needed to play off the design of the waves on the fabric. (I promise this was pressed and wrinkle-free before we started.)
The large ric-rac came from Pick Your Plum, and that shade of blue was perfect.  I've also seen this larger size at Hobby Lobby.  The smaller sizes you can find at any fabric store.
I cut the sleeve longer than normal since adding the ric-rac will shorten the length. 1-Fold the sleeve where you want to add the ric-rac and press. 2-place the ric-rac along the fold. 3-Pin it in place. As you sew through the middle of the ric-rac, hold it in place against the crease with your fingernail. 4-Open the sleeve piece and edge stitch on the right side, choosing if you want the waves facing up or down.  I did all of mine up except for the last one.  I folded the sleeve hem under and just pinned the ric-rac on the inside and stitched in place.
The only thing I wish I would have done differently was make them a bit shorter and more of a bell shape, but I do like how they turned out.  I also didn't make both sleeves the exact same, with differing amounts and sizes of ric-rac.  What made me positively giddy about this whole dress was how the back seam just happened to match up exactly! so no fish had to be faceless or tail-less.  Whew.  Animal cruelty neatly averted.
Was the fishtail braid too cheesy? I couldn't resist.
After Clover was freed from the photo shoot she got to go pick some golden tomato morsels.
Some of you have asked if the other girls feel jealous of all Clover's new threads, and I am surprised (though I should have more faith in them) that nobody has complained, especially since I've been squeezing in a bit of Halloween costume sewing.  I am realizing what a large wardrobe this little girl will have by the end of preschool and debating if I want to put some of them on ebay (I'm saving my pennies for a special purchase) or if I should just hang onto all of them for posterity's sake.
Olive did say last week, as I was measuring her waist, I love it when you sew for me and measure me!  All of my friends are buying their costumes.  I asked her if she wanted to just buy hers, secretly hoping, with fingers crossed behind my back.  No!
I plan to enjoy it while it lasts, this acceptance of handmade things from their momma.  Good girls.

61 comments:

  1. THIS IS AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL! hooray for kiddos loving handmade mama goodies! Last night my husband asked my daughter if she thought i was still going to be making her clothes when she was in college...she said "YES, she'll make me clothes forever!"...yes, enjoy it while it lasts ;)

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  2. I have a feeling that my four-year-old niece and your four-year-old would get along famously! :) By the time she was three, Grace figured out that if there was something she wanted, Aunt Laura could make it for her, and my fabric closet is one her favorite places in the world! She loves that she has input on what she wants to wear and "helps" pick out fabric and patterns for her outfits.

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  3. Oh, this is my favorite thus far! Adorable!

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  4. You have very lucky daughters indeed (and you are lucky in return that they happily wear your creations). Anything they don't wear I'm sure would get snapped up in a hot minute on Etsy.

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  5. Katy - I absolutely adore this dress. The Series is fabulous, and I am so happy you are doing it!

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  6. "F is for Fish". This is fantastic! Love the ric-rac. It blends in so well with the design that I initially thought it was part of the fabric. Great job!

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  7. I miss handmade things from my Mom! I just love the fish dress!

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  8. That dress is gorgeous! Do you fold your pleats or just gather them? They are so uniform and nicely formed, I've only made two pieces of clothing, one a dress another a skirt, both with gathered at the waist and they didn't turn out quite so nice. I love your work Katy! Wish I had half your talent with clothes. Send some my way would you? I have two girls now.

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  9. Seriously amazing!!!! Love how the ricrac on the sleeves mimic the ocean waves!

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  10. I think this is my favorite one so far. Those rick racked sleeves are perfect and so ingenious they look like white caps. Beautifully done.

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  11. Wow! The F-dress might be my favourite so far! Love the rickrack details. Looking forward to G! (or does this also count as a Gold-fish? ;-) )

    Kind regards,
    Sacha (zolderwerk.les-bastides.nl)

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  12. I've really been loving your alphabet series with Clover, but, I must say that so far, 'F' stands for FAVOURITE! LOVE how this one turned out! :)

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  13. My favorite, too. I think people would buy if you decide to sell.

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  14. best dress yet! you should def. keep all 26, what a neat collection to pass down.

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  15. I vote you eBay them because I have a wee one just a few years behind her!

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  16. I love how Olive appreciates the handmade costume! My almost 6 year old boy is the same. I've been working on his costume in bits and spurts for a few weeks now and he was finally able to try something on yesterday. He was so excited and assured me taht he'd be the only one at school with a nice handmade costume that "feels good" and "fits right." I can't believe he's such a snob - you wouldn't know it normally since he prefers athletic shorts and mismatched socks.

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  17. Clover is such a cutey and the dress is gloriously gorgeous!

    All the best
    Dawn in NL

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  18. WOW, the rick rack really makes it. Such a small but great touch.

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  19. I'm envious! :P What a lovely fabric to use. This one should be sold at a high price and I don't think I could afford it! Lovely, lucky little lady with such a talented mum! :)

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  20. It is sooo pretty lovely! And your daugther is so cute in this F-dress :-)
    I wonder, when you find the time for all your sewing projects!

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  21. What a beautiful dress! I would totally wear it. Glad none of the fish are headless or tailless. I'm excited to see your halloween sewing too. And just so you know I'm totally interested in buying one of these dresses for my 3 1/2 year old :) but you should definitely hang on to the favorites. :)

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  22. How FUN! I love the white-cap ric-rac on the sleeves... And the fish matching up in the back is completely serendipitous. =)

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  23. I think this is my favorite so far - so stunning! My 9yo daughter just walked by and said, "I want a dress like that!!"

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  24. This Fish dress is Fabulously Fantastic!!!!

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  25. That fish print is PERFECT! And the details on the sleeves.....amazing! Not sure how you are doing so much sewing (wedding dress, costumes, A-Z clothes) w/ 6 littles.....but I'm loving all of the inspiration!

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  26. Lovely dress. Says a lot that you can look at fabric like that and imagine this. Sew cute.

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  27. Oh, I love it! That is gorgeous! What a statement dress. Clover's teacher must just love watching her come in each week!

    I too wonder how in the world you can do so much! You're making me look bad! Ha! Secrets on how to fit it all in?

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  28. All your alphabetical dresses are amazing and this one is my favorite! Of course you shouldn't let them go on ebay!! think of all the little grand-daughters you're gonna have! they will be delighted to dress up at their grandma's house with all these somptuous dresses! really katie, don't sell them! who knows, they might open a museum with that key collection!

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  29. Wow! I love the pattern. Such a cute cute dress. I don't think you should put them on ebay...they are just so precious. And you are bound to have grandbabies...I know styles change...but not so much for little ones.

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  30. Man I love this dress. SO MUCH. Next time I'm at the fabric store, I'll be either hunting for this fabric (maybe there's some left buried in the stacks?) or trying to find an equally cool border print. The rickrack is great and I really love how you do boatnecks, too. Just beautiful!

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  31. I think this is one of my favorite things you've made. I love the fish print. The ric rac is so, so clever. I love how it looks like waves. Am I too old to want a dress just like this?

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  32. Gorgeous!!!! As always. :) I would wear that in skirt form if I could! You make the most beautiful things!

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  33. My fave so far. What a lovely print and the rik rak detail is perfect!

    Clover is so beautiful as well. :)

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  34. You are amazingly creative, Katy! I would never have seen the potential in that fabric and the additional trim details were perfect. What a gorgeous dress.

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  35. OH my word, I think this is my favourite yet. Your eye for the little detail and the absolute quality of everything you make leaves me quite gobsmacked. I have images of an exhibition of the entire alphabet of dresses, being shown in the coolest of galleries.

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  36. My first thought was too bad Clover is the youngest girl so that you can't hand down all the dresses to someone else. But my second thought was that I bet she gets plenty handed down to her (I'm the middle of 3 girls), so yea that she gets new ones! My mother made everything I wore, even my coats, until I was about 16. I always loved having one-of-a-kind clothes.

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  37. This my favorite AlphabetOutfit yet!! It is Gorgeous!!! Little Clover makes it even prettier!!!

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  38. This is my favorite letter dress so far - Just Beautiful! Sell them and get what you'd like - I just don't see Drummer wearing these...

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  39. This one is my favorite so far!
    Fabulous job.
    ~Michelle

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  40. This dress is absolutely gorgeous!

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  41. Oh my. That dress is exquisite!

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  42. Eek, what is cuter, the dress or Clover? I can't decide... but anyhow the fabulous, clever you made both :D

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  43. Ohmigosh, but you are so clever. This is the cutest little girls' dress I have EVER seen :)

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  44. Gorgeous dress - I'm 17 and I would totally wear it!
    And it did occur to me that your other girls might be jealous; I'm so impressed that they aren't. But what else has struck me as I've been following these spectacular alphabetical outfits is that Clover will be the only one to get to wear them...or are they big enough for Azure too? My practical/economical side is thinking 'why not make them BIG so they can get the maximum possible wear?' but then I suppose it must be so special for Clover to get her very-own-custom-made-every-week outfit. You must be extremely popular with her right now, Katy!

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  45. EL estampado es precioso , pero el detalle de las mangas es genial , seguro que te lo copio
    ME ENCANTA!!!
    Anilegra Moda Para Muñecas


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  46. I've been reading your blog for quite some time without commenting, but I cannot contain myself. This dress is gorgeous!! WOW...you are so talented! BTW~ The babies you make are darling too! Thanks for sharing, you inspire me!

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  47. That dress is wonderful and so is the little girl wearing it. Your dresses are way too precious to sell! I would keep them as heirloom pieces (and how cool for your grandchildren to be able to wear the alphabet!).

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  48. I really really need to learn how to sew! What beautiful creations; I'd keep em. :)

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  49. So precious!!! I love the ric-rac sleeves!!! I've been wanting to get some ric rac to go with some cute applique designs I have! Since I didn't get to them this summer I'll have to wait until next year! :)

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  50. Oh, Katy! This is so great! Sad she was sick for F week!

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  51. My favorite one so far, the colors and ric-rack trim are the best :)

    My son is 8 and still wants & expects me to make his Halloween costumes each year. He comes to me with his ideas and we work it out together (this year a zebra with a big yarn mohawk!).

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  52. i agree, i never would have picked that fabric off the bolt, but it makes such a pretty little F dress. :) and the rick rack is the perfect touch.

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  53. You've got to know I love ric-rac!!! I especially love how you used it on the sleeves of that dress!

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  54. this dress is So beautiful!

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  55. I've been catching up on reading your blog, (starting with the A dress), and they are all amazing, but this is my favorite yet!

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  56. Beautiful as always. I like the ric rac a lot but the fish make the dress.

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  57. Oh my gosh, this dress is stunning! I LOVE the ric-rac detail on the sleeves--such a perfect compliment to the waves pattern. Lucky you to get this fabric handed down!

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  58. I want to be you! Wow - this dress is awesome. I just read through a ton of your posts and you have such wonderful children. I'm in love with the mermaid costumes. You attention to detail amazes me. I have a fairly new Singer sewing machine which I have used to do...almost nothing. It was a pricey one too. I have hemmed a few pants for my father-in-law (and by hemmed I mean I just turned under the hems and stitched a straight edge for them) and made one pair of super comfy PJ pants. You make me want to sew!

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