I recently checked out The Big Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook from the library and it was a huge hit at our house. Edmund and Lavinia were both enthralled with the stories of Milly-Molly-Mandy's life in an English village, and I loved their gentleness and sweetness, too. They both begged me to read the stories over and over, until the book had to be returned. I plan to add some more Milly-Molly-Mandy books to our home library!
In the wake of all this, one day at Walmart, I took a stroll down the fabric aisle as I sometimes do, and the kids immediately latched onto this pink and white striped cotton as "just like Milly-Molly-Mandy's dress!" The result was fairly inevitable -- I took home three yards and promised Lavinia a Milly-Molly-Mandy dress of her own. This is an "inspired-by" version rather than an exact copy of Milly-Molly-Mandy's signature dress, as the stripes are not as wide, and there are some differences in construction.
So why, you ask, if the dress was promised to Lavinia, is Rosie wearing it? Well, I made up the pattern myself, and somehow my first bodice attempt was way too small on Lavinia, but thankfully it fit Rosie just right! And so she received the first dress and Lavinia will soon have a matching one. It is a very simple 1920s style, much like this wisteria and sunshine dress. I think it's sweet and an easy style to make!
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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I loved Milly-Molly-Mandy and Little Susan when I was a child. Some of the stories are beautiful and the illustrations are so endearing. I definitely wanted my bedroom in the attic after seeing Milly-Molly-Mandy's. My mother made me a dress to match too! Lovely memories :-)
ReplyDeleteKathy: an English blog admirer
Kathy, how lovely! Thanks for sharing.
DeleteMMM was a huuuuge favorite at our house after Mom and Dad brought a copy home from England- we had never heard of it before, but they became the stand-by. :-)
ReplyDeleteMMM was the first "big" book I read, and it propelled Gretel into real reading, too. I always read MMM when I was sick in grade school (which was quite frequently!) as it was the perfect sort of "soothing, amusing, and interesting" reading that ideally suits at those times. ;-)
Gretel always wanted a pink stripe dress, but somehow it never happened.... She did get a cute dress in the same style with 1920s little girls printed on it, though. :-)
We still quote MMM to this day! And I was so thrilled when I made a friend 3 years ago whose name is Susan- because now I have a Little Friend Susan of my very own! :-)
Anyway.... I could go on and on about the topic... So glad you are all making such sweet memories over the books, too! I can't wait to share them with my own children someday. :-)
Oh, that is sweet, Lily. I just love how the author turns ordinary events, like gardening with Billy Blunt, or dressing up with Little Friend Susan, into something worthy of a story. Finding joy in the "everyday" is a value that greatly appeals to me, so I'm happy my kids are enjoying them. (The fact that they're set in 1920s England is icing on the cake for us vintage-loving Anglophiles, haha.)
DeleteSo precious, Laura! It will be too darling when Rosie and Lavinia have matching dresses. :-)
ReplyDeleteI haven't ever read the Milly-Molly-Mandy stories -- I'll have to look into them, as they sound quite charming!
Blessings,
Shannon
Thanks, Shannon! Since I bought three yards of the fabric, I had planned to make them both dresses anyway. It's hard to resist matching sister dresses! I'm just glad my sizing mistake worked out! :)
DeleteI'm sure you and your kids would love the books! Enjoy!
Just had to say, we have the same little Radio Flyer "trike". Such fun for the littles. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, that was a garage sale find from my parents! It is so cute! Rosie is always trying to copy the big kids, who have "real" trikes, so it's nice she has one that's just her size.
DeleteWonderful! I've just read one of those very stories to my daughters tonight at bedtime! My older daughter (nearly 9) has loved them for years and even went to school dressed as Milly Molly Mandy for World Book Day a couple of years ago. Another set of stories which we love (and I loved as a child) that have a similar gentle pace to them are the Teddy Robinson stories by Joan G. Robinson. They are also English (as are we) and are about a little girl called Deborah and her teddy bear. They are delightful tales and if you enjoy Milly Molly Mandy you may well enjoy them too.
ReplyDeletePaula, that is so sweet. Thank you so much for the recommendation, too! I will look those up!
DeleteThe Milly-Molly-Mandy stories are so sweet! And I love the dress you made. It looks very much like Milly-Molly-Mandy's dress!
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Thanks, Katie! It's fun that you've read those stories, too!
DeleteOh Laura!! I *loved* Milly-Molly-Mandy as a child - I'd completely forgotten about her, so thank you for the reminder. The dress is just lovely!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rachel! I think I would have loved them at that age, too -- at least I can enjoy them now. :)
DeleteJust delightful! I'm not familiar with MMM, but they sound wonderful, and the dress on Lavinia is precious!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rebecca! :)
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