Saturday, May 6, 2017

The Perfect Pink Dress

When I asked Genevieve if she wanted an Easter dress this year, she was pleased and we looked through my fabric together.  She pounced on the pink cotton/linen blend in my stash and begged to have it made up with lashings of white lace.  Oh dear.  I had bad visions of showboat costumes and overdressed darlings.  I suggested rick rack, or trimmings made of another fabric, but her heart was lost to white lace.

I wanted to make my girl happy.  What's the point of a mama who can sew if you can't get your heart's desire?

So I began.  And thought the lace she had picked out was too delicate for visual impact on the enormous pink skirt, so I sewed some white bias tape on top of it to give it more oomph. I love it!  Genevieve loves it!  The pink dress became sweet and classic and not Too Much, although perhaps the crinoline underneath makes it Too Much for some people.  Genevieve and I both agreed that the two lines of white lace on the skirt were enough trim for the dress.



The crinoline was one that I had picked up at a thrift store for a song years ago, but since I already had a crinoline, this one simply sat in the closet.

When I offered to size it down to Genevieve's size, she was ecstatic.  Truly.  I think she loves the crinoline more than the dress and has begged to wear it as a skirt (what if that creamy crinoline is a square-dance crinoline?  Should she become one of those sedate ladies at the farm show who look like regular grandmas except for their gingham dresses and outrageous crinolines flapping up to show their knees as they dance?).


I've even offered to make Genevieve a full circle skirt so she can wear that crinoline more often and twirl it out as wide as it goes.  The pink dress has a gathered skirt which limits its twirl factor.



 I did raise the neckline a little bit and in the process, accidentally rounded it out instead of the sweetheart neckline of the pattern.  But since it turned out evenly, I'm not complaining.  In fact, the dress pattern itself was very simple.


The pink dress became a spring dress instead of an Easter dress and made its debut at the piano recital last week. Genevieve adores the dress and I'm pleased that I got it to fit her 11-year-old frame so nicely.

9 comments:

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

That turned out to be a very sweet dress!

Anonymous said...

Love the dress.

Teen and pre-teen square dancing is a team sport here in BC, WA and, I believe, Idaho. Think drill team only as square dancers.
SJ in Vancouver BC

beth s said...

Good job Mama!!

sk said...

Stunning!!

Becky said...

The dress turned out darling! I like the rounded neckline - seems a little bit more little girl, which suits the dress better. I've got a little crinoline envy now I must admit.

Nancy In Boise said...

Great job!!!

Hazel said...

I love it, it's beautiful. And I also have crinoline envy (and sewing envy...)

e said...

It turned out so well! And, how wonderful that you are both happy with it!

jenny_o said...

It's beautiful! The white lace and buttons are perfect for the pink. Well done, both of you!