Easter Finale--by Ryan

I finished Ryan's bow tie and Divine's headband in the car, but it all came together.  Perhaps next year I should start earlier.  Today?  What can I say, procrastination works for me.

that little finger is full of mischief

did you know girls wrestle?

what the end of our photo session looked like:

headbands worn like Indians, grass stains, sweaty hair, and not so cheery dispositions

Five down, 2 to go. But really, just 1.

I'll be honest.  I'm not going to get to my new Easter outfit.  But please don't one moment feel sad for me because upon going through my closet, I found plenty to coordinate with my baby Dills.  So, now just something for the Mister.  I have tonight to finish before we're off for the weekend to celebrate living.  

Eternally.  

This pattern [mostly] came from one of my Japanese books.  I don't know which one to tell you because I don't read Japanese, but if you really want to know, I could describe the cover.  I say mostly because I've added some of my own touches, but it was a great silhouette to begin.

This is the same fabric I used for Azure's dress last fall and there is a mere quarter of a yard left.  Love that feeling of getting good use out of a lovely morsel of material.  The eggplant accents come from my Korean ramie/linen.  

And the model?  The model!  There is something about looking at one's children through a lens.  I've enjoyed photographing each one of them during this project. The stillness to be able to see their features.  With Pearl, some of mine, but mostly Ryan's.  Her porcelain skin with the freckles and the hair!  The first three photos are exactly how they came out of the camera. 

Here's to hoping they'll actually wear my hard work!

Four Down, 3 to go.

This dress has done a 180.  

Literally.  I turned the back into the front because it was just plain boring. I imagined the braided neckline would be just so elegant it wouldn't need anything, but then the back turned out so much more interesting, I flipped it.  I had to add the extra gathered panel since I originally made it lower in the back.  If you have a 3 year old, you know they just like easy, slip on clothes, which is what I did here, using elastic thread on the eggplant panel and gathered the sheer overlay with 3/8" elastic.  The neckline was made by loosely braiding strips of the sheer fabric cut on the bias.  The cap sleeves don't cover the entire armhole, so I finished it with a strip of bias as well.

Love her face

I love that every time I ask my kids to try on an article of clothing they ask, 

"Are there pins in it?" to gauge how careful they need to be putting it on.

Seamstress's daughters.

Will I make it?

Three down. 4 to go.

Some bad news and some good news.

Olive now pronounces her "R"s.  

So sad.  Much sadder than is really necessary, but sad, nonetheless.

But, the good news is I finished her dress!

This is another one of my own designs/patterns 

(although the gathered belt was Ryan's idea).

All the fabric I used was from the dollar/yard table again.

I find I'm more bold in my designing when I'm using inexpensive fabric.

The sleeves and belt were made using elastic thread, you know, my new friend.

2 Down, 5 to go.

This is my own pattern that took 2 1/2 yards of fabric.

So much fabric for such a little body!

I got it at the dollar/yard table (the fabric, not the little body).

The trim I got off ebay almost 10 years ago,

the buttons from my button stash that I just organized by color (yeah!)

This is Clover kissing the flower "like a Prince" according to Pearl.

She put up a fight as I tried to take her dress off for bedtime.

One Down. 6 to go.

I'm trying to coordinate Easter outfits.  We'll see how many I get finished.

Divine's new High-waisted Striped Eggplant Easter skirt.

The fabric already had ribbon sewn horizontally on it (though you could do this if you did lots of measuring and pinning).  I turned it vertically and used the ribbons as a guideline where to sew pleats.  In the back I sewed a ribbon on the inside for a casing with elastic to keep the skirt snug around a little girl's waist. 

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