If you have been following the sensitivities of Jambi, you know, we have “issues”. She has an aversion to covering her appendages. Clothing in general is fine, but she has to have bare arms and bare legs. We have tried to address the issue in different ways, like a life size doll to wear her clothes and make them more familiar. But that did not work.
So – if you can’t beat ’em, JOIN ‘EM!
I took her very favorite dress, and copied it!
Last year on our family vacation, Grandma Bunnie revealed these creations to us.
She had made matching outfits for the cousins. Dresses, bloomers (or shorts) and decorated flip flops for both girls. This dress went to the top of the hit list, and regardless of the weather, has been worn every since!
That dress is getting shorter.
On a fabulous trip to New York City last September, I raved to my Mom about the love of this dress, so she picked out fabric to make a ‘winter version’ of the same dress. She found these AMAZING corduroys.
Shopping at Brooklyn General Store. (More about the trip can be seen here.) (Nice picture, no? Funny, I don’t remember having a cocktail for breakfast that morning!) I love the felt/knit tree! What a piece!
The resulting dress can be seen here
I thought “I should take a crack at it”!
So I offer you “the dress III”
Jambi has seen me working on it. She loves the pears. So I am hoping for the best.
If it goes on her body, it will be considered an unmitigated success.
At the most basic level I am happy with it. If she wears it I will be more happy. But it is SO TAME compared to Mom’s bold pairings. She is genius at picking and mixing fabrics. I will have to get braver about mixing pattern. (Channel a little “Mondo” into my picks.)
The other lesson here for me is: “oh for heaven sakes go buy a pattern”. I thought the shape here is so simple that I would be able to easily copy it. After all, I had not one but two different “models” to work with. And I have laid down a piece and cut a new garment to match plenty of times before. WHELL, this little shift of a dress brought me to my knees. (literally and figuratively). I have once again, redoubled my admiration for the Project Runway contestants. Man, pattern making is an art form.
For THE Dress Version IV, I bought a pattern. Stay tuned. It’s coming soon. I cannot wait to show you!
© 2005 – 2012 Kathy Lewinski & Susan Cornish
oh, too funny! I really like version 3, personally – it’s my favorite of all of them!
By the way, I have to tell you, my son was very particular about his clothes, too, when he was a toddler. Getting him dressed was a nightmare. He’s 9 now, and almost entirely outgrown his aversions. He’d still rather be shirtless and shoeless, and he has an unhealthy attachment to a pair of sandals that are two sizes too small, but at least it’s not an everyday battle!
Hopefully soon, she will choose to cheerfully cover those limbs 🙂