My children are not too particular nor focussed on fashion; perhaps having a mother who could literally sew them anything they wanted (because I really could!) grants them a luxury of some kind. More likely, at their young ages and not surrounded by commercialism and materialism as much as others, it’s just not their interest. They have preferences and garments they particularly like, but neither kid could ever be described as particular or fastidious dressers.
That said, Phoenix cites a few colors and a few styles as ones she likes – and I still remember pulling a frilly skirt off the sewing machine and realizing at that moment she wouldn’t care for the frippery (my son was down with it, however). Favoring soft, pull on garments with simple pockets and clean lines, my daughter’s tastes are easy to consider.
Today’s hoodie dress had popped into my head a while back (thanks to reader Jenn for her suggestion of this lovely cotton velour).
OK, that’s the pensive/arty shot. Here’s some tried-and-true authentic Phoenix:
The sleeves and hood were both lined fully; there are no seams to be felt therein. The double-knotted hood of the Farbenmix: Olivia pattern really works for me. I can’t just have a regular boring round hood – at all:
The dress hem and sleeve hems left raw – an advantage of sewing with knits. The trickiest part about a garment like this is the layout and cutting – making sure the knits are perfectly on-grain (seamsters will note there are cross-grain stripes on the Michael Miller stripe and lengthwise grain stripe detail on the velour). Once I’d cut and marked, the dress went quite quickly.
Phoenix was very happy with her dress and played, read, ran, ate, and tended naughty chickens.
She only took the garment off briefly to wash the dishes (and she did a bang-up job of those).
All-in-all, a successful fashion adventure for the girl and I.
In other sewing knews: Patterns by Figgy’s announced their upcoming Sewing For Boys book; a project I’ve been busy helping test for (Nels will be featured in the lovely pictures therein). I haven’t been able to share any pictures of resultant garments and I’ve been agonizing to! Having some intimacy with this project and with the women helming it, I can say I’m very excited to be involved – and gladdened to see these ladies’ dreams coming to fruition. craftivism w00t!
I loved reading this. I’ve been following a couple of sewing blogs, and I receive a couple of sewing-related email newsletters.
But I don’t sew. Not one bit.
So it’s nice to know someone who actually does. Good job. And nice dress.
The dress is beautiful — is that Michael Miller knit as nice and beefy as it looks? I can’t tell you how excited I am about the book.
What a lovely dress! and it fits her so well. Beautiful pictures too.
Did she receive her markers yet? I’m always a bit anxious with internet shopping…
love the dress. it makes me wish that I could have one, because everything I make for me I don’t like. but b likes the clothes I make him (and they turn out ok, as long as you don’t look close). which is really fun. I think I just don’t know what to do with breasts, when it comes to clothes. and my little boy doesn’t have them, which makes sewing for him easier.
It looks great – easy to wear and super-snuggly. And I like the contrast of the horizontal vs. vertical stripes, and the slight texture of the striped velour adds a nice dimension to it. I also like the ability to have the cuff with the lining showing – very cool. I think I’ll have to do another velour one for Maeve this fall, as we’re moving out to the Pacific NW and all of your pics indicate that snuggly is the operative word for clothes that function out there. Good thing I stocked up on some nice velour at Hancock’s last year.
So who is the piece of paper taped to the sliding glass door for? I’m assuming someone tried to walk through it? Or was that the primo spot for one of the Booms to post some art? (nickname pilfered from Ralph’s FB wall)
All of the pics are great BTW. I do like the smiling one best.
Thank you for the compliments!
@Josh
I’m so sorry – I should have written. We received the markers exactly one week ago. They are STELLAR. I had a similar pair as a child and they are top-notch. I’d love your email address as I went to write you and couldn’t find one. You can post it here or email to kelly AT hogaboom DOT org – if you want to share.
@Medrie
The MM knit is very beefy and about the softest cotton knit I’ve ever felt. I prewashed it several times as it shrinks quite a bit (I’m sure you read this on the Ottobre group, if you’re still partaking).
@Shelley
I have the same problem with boobs-sewing, one reason I sew so adroitly for my kids but rarely for myself. Ultimately I think tho’ boobs aren’t any harder to deal with than the crotch curves of simple pants, but women’s body issues complicate the otherwise merely technical concerns of alterations/fit/pattern selection and drafting. Rarely here this discussed, though, except when women self- and other-police about “flattering” outfits.
I agree with you this dress is so rad. Maybe I should make one for myself?
@Jen
Thank you again for the recommendation. The texture of the velour is great, I agree. WHERE are you moving too in the PNW? As for attire yes, “snuggly”, also: layers.
@Kidsync
How great is your eye for detail? OK, the paper is a drawing I was trying to trace to do embroidery. It didn’t work out though, I should take it down. Oh also I should hose all those pussy willows & chix scat off my deck. [ braying laughter because, no ]
Kelly – we’re getting posted to Ft. Lewis, so we could be anywhere in the greater Tacoma area. While Scott wants to live close so he can bike to work and avoid I-5, we can’t really afford to live in Dupont so it’s looking more like Spanaway is close enough. We could be as far west as Lacey, though, since it looks like there are a lot of houses available to military people for short-term leases. But that would mean he’d have to drive in…. We don’t even know how long we’ll be out there – could be only a year, could be 4. It’s always an adventure with the army.