A change of pace

My daughter asked me to make her daughter's First Communion dress and the time is closing in. We don't have a date yet, but it can't be far off. First Communion is usually in the month of May.
We had decided on this dress from Sense and Sensibility Patterns, and I ordered it before Christmas. It arrived in January and I made a mock-up of the bodice and mailed it off to Elena two weeks ago. This project is requiring long-distance fitting. And even little girls of 7/8 years old need tweaking, especially when they are average in height but tiny through the chest and waist. Hannah measures size 4 in the chest and waist, and size 6 through the hips, but she is average height for her age.



When I made the bodice up, I thought this is weird. I know that historical patterns have their own styling, things like the shoulder seam is set behind the shoulder on the back, the sleeves are different. But even I could tell without anyone trying this on, that this was just going to fit very strangely and Hannah would have virtually no arm movement. An email from Elena confirmed this is so.

So a quick internet search of patterns, links were sent for Elena and Hannah to check out, and this pattern won hands-down. Hannah just grinned when she saw it, what little girl would not want a dress like this one? Butterick 4967



Elena's only specification was "please no shiny fabric". A quick trip to Fabricville yesterday to pick up the pattern and I checked out the fabric choices in the bridal section. Plenty of really nice white cottons are in stock, if anyone is making white shirts, you are in luck. But plain cotton is just a little too plain for this dress.
I have a white eyelet in my stash that was going to be used, when the other dress was the choice, but it is a little too heavy for the tiers of this dress. But I lucked out and found a light white eyelet and it was even 40% off. Of course, everything is always marked down at Fabricville, just their way of eliminating the small independent fabric stores so that we will have no choice other than what they offer us.

I will put up a photo of the fabric later today but right now, the morning dishes are calling and some other important stuff that needs to be done.

Photo of eyelet for Butterick 4967

In the Queue

My sewing projects will not be limited to the Jacket a Month sew-along, although that will be the prime motivator during the next year of sewing (I hope). I have a few other things on the list of to-dos.

On that list is this dress
A Girl's 1780's Portrait Dress Pattern
which will be made for my grand-daughter Hannah for her First Communion. The girl in the photo bears a remarkable resemblance to Hannah, even to her smile.


This will probably be late May, but I plan on making the dress first in a printed cotton, and perhaps knee-length or a little longer to check on the fit. I have a gorgeous white eyelet in the stash that will be used for this dress, and the sash will be baby blue satin ribbon. I might even make a tie for her twin brother Jacob, nah, on second thought, I have never sewn for boys and don't plan on starting now. Girls' clothes are much more fun.

It is funny to think that today, my daughter Rebecca`s third child Miriam was christened in the gown I made for Hannah eight years ago. Of course, I had to make two gowns - Hannah and Jacob are twins - with embroidery on the bodice. How time flies! I recall doing that embroidery while sitting with a woman who was dying of cancer. The hours were quiet and peaceful as she lay sleeping and I stitched gowns for new babies. Life is bittersweet.

Hannah will be here for a visit in March, so I can check on the fit then, in the chaos that will come with 5 grandchildren under 8 visiting for a week. I must get in gear and have all the meals frozen in advance so that we can just go and have fun.

As well, I plan on following Robyn`s suggestion and make sure that all the jackets have things to wear with them, so that they don't become orphans in the closet. So, for the Chanel-ish jacket, I plan on making a baby blue top in either a knit or woven to wear with navy pants that also must be made. Otherwise that jacket will languish in the closet.

Clothes to go with the coat in progress won`t be a problem; a short black coat will always have plenty to go with it. In fact, I foresee this jacket being worn out in a year or two.

Didn`t get any time to sew over the weekend, but I hope to have a couple of hours tomorrow afternoon to get the black coat under the presser foot.