gingham
May 8th, 2009
I was going to make a dress that looked just like this, but then my muddled pregnancy brain got in the way and I cut the fabric on the selvedge instead of the fold. Then after picking out another lovely piece of fabric I did it again. Amazingly I didn’t just go upstairs and eat chocolate, but instead picked out fabric that I had yards and yards of so I could continue to screw up and still get a dress out of it. And ta da! I cut on the fold (yay!) and used the elastic thread that’s been sitting in my drawer for over a year. I used Erin’s sunny dress tutorial, but stopped after 5 rows of shirring because I liked the baby doll shape of the dress. I never did like the straps that tie (even though I know they are super useful) so I made thicker straps instead. Then high on my one success, I made my son matching shorts. They are a little longer than shorts–board shorts? short pants? long shorts? everyone has a different name for them. I think they are just cute as hell.
oh and thanks for all your comments on the last post. I guess I’ve never read the comments on apartment therapy before. I didn’t know they liked to get down and dirty. I wasn’t hurt at all–everyone’s entitled to their opinions–but I think I may put a disclaimer on my blog about using my photos (to be fair, AT did credit me, they just didn’t get the facts straight) or maybe even have an edited version appear in RSS readers. How do you protect your work?
loving this set! I have a boy and girl and I think I’ll be following suit and making some of these too!
also wanted to say, even before I got to your comment on AT i though to myself.. “she has small kids.. wood floors are way easier to clean, that’s why the is off!” I’ve got kind of the opposite situation, we have wall to wall carpeting in our dinning room so I bought a painter’s canvas drop cloth to put under the kids’ chairs since washing a rug is easier than cleaning the carpet ;) love your blog!
I’m in love with both.
Cute as Hell, YES. I’ve never pictured Gingham on a boy but you’ve proven that it’s possible and ADORABLE.
Wow, I love the gingham! What a good idea with the baby-doll shaped dress!
RE: photos. As a blogger who frequently uses photos from other sites, these are my rules of thumbs.
*if there’s a disclaimer that says “don’t use my photos” (like angry chicken), I don’t & I don’t even ask
*if it says “ask me”, I ask
*if it says “use my photos, but credit me” I do that
*if it says nothing, then:
-if it’s a promotional blog, ie fabric designer or shop, I use photos & credit back. They’re blogging for exposure & I’m giving them that
-if it’s a general craft/lifestyle blogger (like you!), I ask and I always inform as to what the post will be about.
I always thought that the way I do things was standard for blogs that “cover” blogs, so to speak. Apparently not! :) Anyway, maybe if you put something in your sidebar it will be clearer to those who don’t follow the same set of rules!
love love love. The gingham is genius. I am a huge fan of gingham. I agree that less is more on the rows of elastic for the dress you made. I bet I could get my boys into matching shorts with their sister still. Is the gingham you used 100% cotton?
I was afraid of the elastic thread too but tried it once last summer and it was so simple, everyone just loves the dress. You have inspired me to do it again this year.
Super cute! We call boardshorts/long boy shorts “manpris” around these parts. You know – capris for men (boys).
love the pants. I just started sewing pants for my 10-month old who wears cloth diapers at home. love the manpris! might make me a pair once my crawler starts walking. I need to reinforce some knees first. great photo of the dress twirl!
I love love love these designs in ginham. I’m usually not a fan of gingham, but I am here!
Gorgeous! Glad you didn’t crack on the chocolate and continued your adventure so that we could meet the shorts (or “mampris” ha!). When you’re little girl gets bigger, she can keep wearing the dress, and steal her brother’s shorts.
Oh those are just both so adorable! I just love gingham and everything made with it…thanks for the inspiration!
I love the pants and dress, they are both so cute. Adding the dress to my never ending list of things I want to make one day :)
I think it’s a bit weird of AT to use your photos without asking first, especially in the before and after context.
I’m glad that you didn’t go for the chocolate – they both turned out so cute. I’ve been told that the elastic thread thing is easy. I’m not sure that I believe that, but I’m hoping to give it a go one of these days.
1) i totally missed the part about you being pregnant – congratulations!
2) the gingham dress is wonderful. i think the shape is simply perfect.
oh, this is really sweet.
really really sweet.
Love the gingham.
How do I protect my work?
Well, I hope people will look at the copyright policy on my site and respect that …I should watermark all my photos, but that would take forever…maybe I will start.
Great post…hope you had a wonderful Morther’s day!
Char
I love it!
LOVE the clothes!!!
I love gingham and these clothes are adorable!!
i love the babydoll style on the dress! I too have some of that elastic thread– going on 2 years now–maybe you will inspire me to use it this summer.
my son (6 years) loves those long shorts too. we call them skateboard shorts. they are on my “to sew” list for this month before the weather warms up here.
oh cute! I have both shorts and elastic shirred dresses on my to-sew list. love them in gingham!
so, wait, AT posted those photos without asking you? and then set it up as a before/after what do you think thing?! that is not cool. how hard would it be to email you first?
gingham is my all time favorite fabric! I love, love, love that little dress!!!!
i love both the dress and the shorts! would you mind telling me if you used a pattern or just traced from another pair of shorts? i agree they are cute as hell. my 3 boys need some pronto. and would they look cute with this fabric?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/denbow/sets/72157607377990514/
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