Saturday November 4th was going along nice and quiet. Getting things done around the house and taking in some reading. Then, in came a new mission:
My wife: "Well, I'm doing something different"
Me: "What?"
Wife: "My D.A.R. Chapter wants me to be in the Veterans Day parade next week."
Me: "Sounds fun, what are you going to be doing?"
Wife: "Just walking in the parade, except I dress up in a "Colonial" dress."
Me: "Where are you going to get that?"
Wife: "They have ones available, oh and they want the girls in it as well."
Me: "In costume?"
Wife: "No, just dressed patriotic"
Me: "Okay, so what's your plan?"
Wife: "I have no idea ..."
So, the task was set. Create a patriotic outfit for two little girs to wear while riding a float amongst a bunch of ladies dressed in outfits that are supposed recall the fashions of two hundred years ago. And, we have one week to do it.
Halloween being just over gave me my first inspiration. My eldest daughter had been "Cinderella", which to her meant, "make me a blue dress". That was easy as I had a pattern already on hand for something appropriate. (http://users.frii.com/charlesj/charles/projects/crw_1098.jpg) This would form the foundation.
Next, we headed off to JoAnn's to check out any leftovers from Independence Day. We struck gold with some cotton print with a flag motif in the $2 rack. I added a couple yards of lace, just in case.
Getting home, it was time to get creative. I wanted to lengthen the bodice down to the natural waist instead of the empire waist in the pattern. Then we needed to add long sleeves (too cold for bare arms) and add a contrasting collar to make the whole thing less overwhelming around their face. I'm not really sure what I'm doing at this point, but I lay out the original pattern pieces on some butcher paper and start drawing lines where I think they should go. By Saturday night, I have a pattern.
Sunday was church, cleaning house and football, but a little bit of time was available to get one bodice cut out and sewn up to prove that it fit. It did. Adding sleeves to the bodice proved that I was one the right track there also. Still, I had nothing for the collar. I cut out a square and sized it to look okay. Then laid out the bodice pattern pieces and figured out what the neck opening should look like. I tried the result on my youngest and seemed okay. Cut two pieces, add lace, sew up, attach. Hey! It works! Whoa. (In hindsight, I should have added some interfacing to the collar to give it more body. Oh well)
My wife: "Well, I'm doing something different"
Me: "What?"
Wife: "My D.A.R. Chapter wants me to be in the Veterans Day parade next week."
Me: "Sounds fun, what are you going to be doing?"
Wife: "Just walking in the parade, except I dress up in a "Colonial" dress."
Me: "Where are you going to get that?"
Wife: "They have ones available, oh and they want the girls in it as well."
Me: "In costume?"
Wife: "No, just dressed patriotic"
Me: "Okay, so what's your plan?"
Wife: "I have no idea ..."
So, the task was set. Create a patriotic outfit for two little girs to wear while riding a float amongst a bunch of ladies dressed in outfits that are supposed recall the fashions of two hundred years ago. And, we have one week to do it.
Halloween being just over gave me my first inspiration. My eldest daughter had been "Cinderella", which to her meant, "make me a blue dress". That was easy as I had a pattern already on hand for something appropriate. (http://users.frii.com/charlesj/charles/projects/crw_1098.jpg) This would form the foundation.
Next, we headed off to JoAnn's to check out any leftovers from Independence Day. We struck gold with some cotton print with a flag motif in the $2 rack. I added a couple yards of lace, just in case.
Getting home, it was time to get creative. I wanted to lengthen the bodice down to the natural waist instead of the empire waist in the pattern. Then we needed to add long sleeves (too cold for bare arms) and add a contrasting collar to make the whole thing less overwhelming around their face. I'm not really sure what I'm doing at this point, but I lay out the original pattern pieces on some butcher paper and start drawing lines where I think they should go. By Saturday night, I have a pattern.
Sunday was church, cleaning house and football, but a little bit of time was available to get one bodice cut out and sewn up to prove that it fit. It did. Adding sleeves to the bodice proved that I was one the right track there also. Still, I had nothing for the collar. I cut out a square and sized it to look okay. Then laid out the bodice pattern pieces and figured out what the neck opening should look like. I tried the result on my youngest and seemed okay. Cut two pieces, add lace, sew up, attach. Hey! It works! Whoa. (In hindsight, I should have added some interfacing to the collar to give it more body. Oh well)
Once the week was underway, time became precious. Between work, home school and sleep, there’s not a lot left for creativity. I put my wife to work cutting out skirt panels, whilst I got the second bodice and sleeves together. By Friday, I was hemming skirts and sleeves and the girls were going wild with anticipation. We had done it.
