Lavinia wore her Christmas dress to church today so I was able to snap a few photos. She is proving to be a difficult age to photograph (19 months) so here's a shot of the dress on a hanger, below.
The dress is my own design and pattern, so it was challenging at times but I'm pleased with how it turned out. I love ballet-inspired Christmas dresses (all those years of attending performances of "The Nutcracker"), so I was aiming for that sort of look. I liked the raglan-sleeve party dresses for girls being sold at Boden this season, so that was my model for the bodice. The skirt is a circle skirt, with four layers of tulle over that.
My goal was to spend as little as possible on this dress. The bodice is made from a polyester peau de soie I bought years ago at Denver Fabrics. It is just the color of ballet shoes! It is self-lined, which makes it a little bulkier than I would have liked, but like I said, I didn't want to have to buy matching lining. The underskirt is cut from silk ivory duchess satin left over from my wedding gown. I made the rosettes from the peau de soie and the little ivory leaves are made from silk charmeuse scraps from another project, and the pearl beads in the centers of the roses are also left over from my wedding gown. The only thing I purchased new for this project was the sparkly ivory tulle, which was $1.37/yard at Walmart! So all in all, not too bad.
My mom had some perfect vintage buttons in her stash. They probably belonged to my great-grandmother, who was a minister's wife and did a great deal of sewing, for her own family and for others.
I'm trying to cherish these last few weeks of Lavinia being the baby of the family. I'm so proud of my beautiful little daughter!
I'm a 31-year-old Christian. My hope is to live a quiet life filled with home and hearth, family and friends, loveliness and simplicity. I'm wife to Douglas (married October 2008) and mother to Edmund (born November 2009), Lavinia (born May 2012), and Rosamund (born February 2014).
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Aww this is so sweet! Both the dress and my little niece. :) I can't believe how talented you are; praise the Lord! By the way, I love the last picture! :-D
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Louisa! Hopefully Lavinia will also wear the dress for K's wedding. :) Douglas took that last picture; I was delighted because there are so few candid shots of me and my kids!
Deletethis is beautiful! Love the ballet color always.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margo! It is such a pretty shade of pink, isn't it?
DeleteThis is so beautiful! I can't believe you found that tulle at Walmart!
ReplyDeleteLauren, thank you! Walmart has been surprising me lately with some of the fabric I've found there!
DeleteJust stunning! And oh the memories of the pearls and buttons.
ReplyDeleteThank you! It's fun to work in those family connections on a special project. :-)
DeleteBreathtaking work, as usual! Do I even need to mention how well it goes with her porcelain skin and rosy cheeks? Perfection.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ashley! Yes, with her delicate coloring I feel she looks best in soft, muted pastels, which are hard to find in stores (lots of screaming neons right now!) -- another benefit to sewing your own clothes! :-)
DeleteOh this is such a sweet dress! And such a sweet baby! I think she poses quite nicely :) Lovely work! She is adorable! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ruth! :)
DeleteLaura - it's perfectly beautiful - the roses! I foresee a designing future in store for you.
ReplyDeleteIt is so delicately beautiful! And it complements her sweet cheeks nicely. :-) I love that last picture!
ReplyDeleteOh, Laura, as usual, just beautiful. Isn't it fun to dress little girls?! Enjoy your Christmas season. Pam
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