Basics for Girls (except mine, who needs something a little fancier)

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, my latest Japanese book purchase inspired me to actually make something (instead of just sitting around thinking about what I COULD make), except from a book that I picked up almost a year ago, Basics for Girls (I haven't made anything from that fabric in the picture yet, but have often thought about it, see how that works?).  I feel essentially the same way about it as I did in my original post, which is to say that the patterns are, yes, basic, but compelling, also "basic" isn't a terrible quality when you are trying to make something according to instructions that you cannot actually read.

I love, love this dress. I love how smocky it is, I think the proportions are great, it's adorable over jeans & a long-sleeve tee, I love the raspberry striped seersucker I used to make it.  I love the fit of the yoke & the binding around the neck & arms.  I love the design of the pockets, though they're too small to be that useful & I was clumsy with them.  Big armholes definitely make it an overdress, but since we are, I learned today, having colder weather than SIBERIA here in Seattle, I'm not too worried about her suddenly being unable to wear an undershirt without melting.  (Last week I was in the fabric store picking up some this & that for summer clothes, the cutter made the usual small-talk comment about "boy, you'll be busy" & I said something equally small-talky about having to get the sundresses made before it gets hot, & she stopped, looked at me, & said "It's JUNE and you're wearing a DOWN JACKET.  I don't think you have to rush.")

 
My girl thinks this dress is pretty cute, though initially refused to wear it pre-embellishment, "please can you put something on it, you know, like when you do drawing with thread?"  Then she sent it back again to have the heart filled in, FINE, & in the interim I made the huge mistake of making the same dress out of a floral fabric, & so her initial refusal has been followed by a grudging acknowledgement that yes, the heart is awesome & maybe she'll wear it sometimes, but it just isn't as cute as the flower one because it doesn't have as much stuff on it.  Stripes, it turns out, do not count as stuff.  (Too basic, right?)

Here we have the right amount of stuff.  This one, she wanted to wear two days in a row, the other one she can barely stand to try on for two seconds. "Just try it on!  Let's see how it fits!" I say, cheerfully, hoping that she'll get distracted by something sparkly before she remembers to rip those boring, boring stripes off of her body. 

No luck so far.

Comments

[Stacy]

I love dress #1, too.

Not that I don't like dress #2, but dress #1? MUCH cuter. In my humble opinion.

:)

Great job.

I have a Japanese Craft book that terrifies me. But I love the pictures. And I imagine that someday I"ll make something from it.

~Stacy

[kathie]

I had situations like this with my two girls too
When they didn't like a dress and didn't want to wear it I took them to the mall, Walmart... claire's inexpensive places.... and let them pick out a head band (yes at 3 years old this started!) or a necklace to be worn ONLY with that dress, it worked! just a suggestion
I would only spend a few dollars on either of these items. once they wore it a few times then I saw they would forget to wear the headband or necklace cause they fell in love with the dress!

[mamabrico]

Oh that dress. So very very cute!

We'll be in Seattle in a couple of weeks. We're seeing each other, right? I'll email.

bises.

[erin]

i think the striped one is quite charming and cute, but i understand that it doesn't matter what you or i think, does it? been there and done that.

[Mama Urchin]

I'm always asked for more ruffles when I make dresses.

[Kirsten]

Makes me wish I had a girl to sew for, think B would wear a smock? Maybe a robot fabric smock? Wishful thinking. I vote the first one too, love them both, but I would wear that first one.

I agree on the Seattle weather, sucks so bad, love the the sun is finally poking it's head out this afternoon, now if it would just warm up!

[Christy]

delurking to ask if you, by chance, have stolen my 5 year old with out me knowing it? I just had the exact conversation about a dress I made her-with fabric she picked out herself. Her younger sister's dress had two colors of pink flowers on it and hers only had one...the others being purple...oh my! She said her younger sister wasn't allowed to wear her dress unless she (the five yr old) was wearing all pink because she (the younger) would be fancier. Aargh! My sympathies to you!

[cyndi]

i LOVE the striped one...i think in fact even better than the floral one. My daughter refuses to wear anything other than T shirts and jeans...and not even cute ones! another fave of hers are hand me down bandana pants from her brother with T shirts that don't quite match! sigh. I wish i had one complaining that her clothes were too "plain" and needed something to spice them up!

[Thimbleina]

I love those dresses. I have the 'Girly style Wardrobe' pattern book which has been very useful this summer, you can see on my blog some of the pieces that I have made from it.

[Lisa]

Girls seem to have their own fashion ideas from a very young age! My daughter told me a few years ago (when she was about 8 yrs) that we just don't have the same taste! I love your dresses - particularly the stripey one.

[Linda]

Oh gosh, I love the red dress too. And the heart! So perfect!

[cheap ed hardy]

We'll be in Seattle in a couple of weeks. We're seeing each other, right? I'll email.

[ed hardy]

ed hardy is my favorite variety and novel style, with t-shirt, bags, glasses, pants, etc., the price is reasonable, it is a good choice for young people

[mercury detox]

latest Japanese book purchase inspired me to actually make something (instead of just sitting around thinking about what I COULD make), except from a book that I picked up almost a year ago, Basics for Girls (I havent made anything from that fabri