This issue, 11-2010, arrived in December, at the start of Summer school holidays, and my younger daughter was very taken with the dress on the cover.
When she asked me to make it for her, I slyly said I would help her to make it. (It had taken me a full year to recover from helping her to make a pair of pyjama shorts). She agreed to this, and picked out her fabric, and that was as far as we got for a whole month.
Fortunately, clothes acquisitiveness was on my side. My daughter is visiting her grandmother for a few days, in Brisbane, and wanted something new and pretty to wear. I only had to put my foot down very gently for day one of the sewing. She traced, cut out, and sewed the bodice, lining, straps. She did a really good job, and seemed to enjoy it once she started. I was patting myself on the back a bit until day 2.
With only the skirt, zip and hem to go, she felt I should finish it off for her. I talked her out of most of this, but put in the zip for her I also did her unpicking when needed - anything for a sewing convert! She is very pleased with her dress, but at the dinner table reported to her grandmother and father that I had "forced" her to make the dress. This was not quite the result for which I was hoping.
The dress was a good project for a beginner.
1. She wanted it
2. She loved the fabric
3. There were only 3 pieces to trace out (we left out the pockets)
4. Although this is a 2 dot pattern, there is nothing hard about it - one set of darts, 14 straight seams, only one over gathering, one curved seam and a zipper.
5. Fitting was minimal due to the design of the dress and my daughter's shape - no shoulders, no sleeves, no fitting below the waist. (I took in the back bodice by about 5 cm whilst putting in the zip, otherwise she is a straight petite 34 - We did not raise the neckline, but as she is petite, no Burda cleavage problem for this dress)
I feel that now she can sew, she might take it up in her 30's. I don't anticipate any competition from this direction for my sewing machine just yet. :(.
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Thank you to all the people who expressed concern about the flooding in Queensland. I do not live in one of the badly affected areas. You may have seen from my photographs that it has been raining a lot since before Christmas - every day. The flooding in our area is moderate - the bridge in the centre of town has been cut 5 times, which normally means no school, my children are a bit disappointed that it couldn't wait until term time (usually it is cut once a year or so). The highway to Brisbane has been cut off by floodwaters twice, but only for a few hours each time. The road we live on has been flooded at one end, which last happened 11 years ago. I am glad that we live on top of a very steep hill. I would like to send some rain to Carolyn in Perth, as we have enough! (Sewing is a good hobby for this sort of weather - the cyclist and the cricketer in the family are getting rather antsy)
17 comments:
There are clear advantages to raising kids in the country. My daughter would like this dress, but would insist that was cut much much shorter. All hail to your daughter for learning to sew for herself.
Lovely dress and daughter! Congrats to you on gently helping. That is my policy--I will not help the oldest unless asked and my tongue is very sore from being bitten so frequently! She is sloppy, incredibly so. The seams on the things that she's made have started to pull out and she has no interest in fitting at all.
But, that is all okay since she does know how to sew and one day either she will or won't take it to the next level and that's fine, too. My mother was one to grab something out of your hand and "show you how to do it" (really she just did it for you and she was a sloppy sewist, too).
This is too long! Being a role model is a big encouragement all on its own. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the flooding update! Hope it gets better soon!
Very pretty - she'll want to sew more later, you'll see.
Pretty dress and good for you for "making" her do it!
Glad to hear the flooding isn't as bad near you as elsewhere - I was wondering, but you were posting, so I thought you weren't completely underwater.
It turned out well. She'll appreciate the lesson in the future, if not now. I was wondering how your fared in the rain. It's been raining here for about 3 months now. I was flooded in for three days over christmas, which I quite liked and I may well get flooded in again tonight. My whole 23 acres is boggy, I have three waterfalls cascading down the hills that I've never had before and the delicate underground stream that feeds the waterhole next to my house is a raging torrent taking up half of my east paddock and roaring over the top over the waterhole. Needless to say my grass is a metre high and there is no chance of mowing in the near future. At least I'll get some sewing done.
She (you all) made a beautiful dress.
Very pretty dress and your daughter looks so pleaesd with it, aren't teenagers great.
She looks beautiful. The dress is lovely. My daughter keeps asking me to teach her to sew- she's nine. I finally gave in and brought her into the sewing room to lay out and cut a pattern for a dress for her. She lasted about 15 minutes. Oh well, maybe in a couple more years.
The dress is VERY cute. Even more appealing than the cover photo, I think. Despite the complaints, I'm sure your daughter is pleased with her efforts. Having a great result is bound to be motivation to try another garment sometime.
It is such a lovely dress and she must be so proud of her achievements, even if she was *forced* to sew it!
Good job Mum and daughter! Mum for providing the encouragement and practical support and daughter for giving it a crack.
Rssss, mesmo que hoje ela pense que foi obrigada, um dia ela ira lhe agradecer. É um belo vestido e la o fez muito bem.
Te desejo boa sorte.
Eilane - Brasil
LOL, love her comment! But forced to sew or not, the huge sense of accomplishment you get from making your own dress is not to be underestimated! I suspect she'll be back at the sewing machine soon enough.
I loved the comment that you forced her to make it herself.
I may follow your lead. My teenager just asked me to make a skirt for her. I think I will encourage her to make it herself. I must be a glutton for punishment... Like you said - "Anything for a sewing convert!"
I love this post! I think I would be so sad if I had a daughter that wasn't immediately, passionately in love with sewing. If it helps, I totally got into it in my 30s. So, you're prediction may be correct. She looks so proud of herself!
You both did a fantastic job with this dress. She looks just lovely in it. And well done you, for being a wonderfully inspiring Mum!
I love your blog posts, you are such an entertaining writer and your dry humour always gives me a chuckle.
You might not have to wait until she's in her 30's. I was still sewing a lot in my teens and twenties, and my own 18yr old daughter is sewing a lot too...
I'm glad you haven't been flooded, although I did guess as much from your photos out on the verandah. We have had appeals here for both Queensland and Carnarvon flooding victims, as higher up here in WA there has been devastating flooding also. And thankyou for the wish of rain! If only the rain could have been more evenly distributed across the country...
There must be something about summer holidays and teenage daughters and sewing. I've just coaxed my daughter to the machine too this week, via her cousin asking for lessons.
Your daughter did a great job and she looks great in that dress.
Sewingelle
Great dress - you certainly did not fail as the sewing teacher - how funny - the way she commented to your parents! Another week of rain across Eastern Australia - hope you're still high and dry!
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