the princess dress
July 28th, 2010
I’m really not one for the whole princess thing. And I thought we had avoided it, until on her fourth birthday my daughter wished that “all princesses would be sparkly.” There has been a health dose of princessness since then, even though I rarely ever buy princess paraphernalia–and wow you can buy just about anything save for major appliances with a princess slapped on it.
It’s not so much the prince saving the princess that annoys me, it’s the total lack of substance on the part of the princess. Well, that and the rampant consumerism of it all (see above). For the most part the princess just lies around looking pretty all day long. Because of that I rejected them outright until I found myself looking at a fashion magazine in the check out line and realized it was just grown up princess crap. So I guess if I can indulge in pretty girly things, I can indulge my daughter a little too.
And so the princess dress. It’s not sparkly or even very flooffy, but it’s pink and princessy and she loves it. The pattern is from Carefree Clothes for Girls and with it’s quilted bodice (that’s for you nan) and raw edges it’s more Cinderella before the ball than at the ball. The pattern was easy and a lot like the other dress I made from the book. The only part I couldn’t figure out were the button loops. There was a diagram on how to make them, cut I couldn’t decipher it out, so I just crocheted some chains with quilting thread and sewed them in. And it worked out well, washes up nicely, and gets dirty often. For me it’s a dress with a silly amount of baggage, but to her it’s just a pretty dress to pick flowers in.
July 28th, 2010 at 10:34 am
…and it’s beautiful! I am not a fan of the princess culture either, but um, this dress is just lovely. And how wonderful that your daughter loves it so.
July 28th, 2010 at 11:20 am
“Cinderella before the ball than at the ball” love that.
and those button/loops on the back make it I think!
July 28th, 2010 at 11:22 am
Oh it’s so, so pretty! I just adore all of the loving little details on it!
July 28th, 2010 at 11:33 am
LOVE it!! So great. I have that fabric too and am waiting for the little girl to grow up a little before I use it, most likely on something like this.
July 28th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
It’s really, REALLY lovely? Care to make one for my princess too? ;) It’s got the perfect mix of mod and whimsy.
July 28th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
That is really beautiful – and I’m not a fan of princesses either!
nice work!
July 28th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
What a beautiful dress! I love it. Can’t wait until my girls are ready for dresses like that. Thanks for sharing!
July 28th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
beautiful
July 28th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
I love this dress! (And I hear you on the princess stuff . . . argh. I think the real princess world was sabotaged by the disney/walmart/ooky plastic princess crap). Anyhoo, love the dress!
July 28th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Wow. Non-princessy princess wear score.
I adore the raw edges. Adore.
July 28th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
This dress is awesome! The quilted bodice is so very sweet. This is what I real princess should look like anyways.
July 28th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
It looks great – much better than those store versions.
But I’m with you on the princess stuff. I’ve told my kids that I’m allergic to the princess / Barbie aisle at the store and they believe me and treat it with the same respect as their dad’s cat allergy…
Luckily my daughter has only shown the odd fleeting interest in princess stuff. When my son was a knight for Halloween a few years back, my daughter ended up being a maiden (not ladylike enough to be a lady…) and that’s about as close as she’s been to my making anything princess like.
July 28th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
PS. Here’s an easy tutorial to follow for button loops: http://ysolda.com/support/pictorial-guides/sewn-button-loops/
July 28th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
ha! this chimes so absolutely with me! we live next door to a little girl a bit older than Iris, whom Iris is v smitten by. Iris gave her one of her favourite books to borrow this evening, it’s called The Concrete Lorry, (Iris is a pleasing mix of tomboy and straight-up princess loving girl), and Lily gave her her best book, it’s only Disney Princess complete with push-button sound effects. you read the ‘story’ (very one-dimensional psuedo-moralistic clap-trap) and press the corresponding button when the text calls for it. Snow White says ‘oh my goodness’ about a million times. unfortunately, Iris loved it and clamoured endlessly for the ‘pink book’, argh, have all my efforts been in vain?!! i fear the disneyfication of my child.
p.s. i had an idea for a non princess-y princess dress tonight, i am going to take one of Iris’s plain vests and sew onto the bottom, a frothy petticoat mass of net and ribbon. it won’t be pink though, oh no.
p.p.s. sorry for the post-length comment.
p.p.p.s that is one pretty dress, all those details? perfection.
July 28th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
p.p.p.p.s argh, sorry for all the typos. gah, i hate that!
July 28th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
It’s gorgeous! The quilted bodice & the raw edge just absolutely make it in my opinion.
July 28th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Sorry that was me.
July 28th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
Beautiful dress!
July 28th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
it’s really a sweet dress. :) I too hope to avoid all things princess because of similar reasons to what you said about the consumerism of it all. I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to avoid it though, her friends all love princesses. Anyway, love the part where you said that it gets dirty often. I seem to always kind of cringe a bit each time a new stain shows up on something I made for my girls, but at least they wear them, right?!
July 28th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Very sweet.
I have boys and get to avoid the whole princess thing but if I had a girl this is the type of princess garb I would make. Lovely job on the hand quilting.
July 29th, 2010 at 12:43 am
I could have written this same post. We finally gave in at age 4, too (in fact, the fourth birthday had a princess theme). We do our best to avoid the commercial stuff, so I’ve ended up sewing a couple of costumes.
Hang in there. I hear it’s just a phase.
Your dress is lovely.
July 29th, 2010 at 9:40 am
The buttons are my favorite part, so lovely…
July 29th, 2010 at 11:30 am
um, Meg? what happened to your doorknob? reading this without a daughter, and with a faulty glass knob and two full-tilt boys of my own, THAT detail caught my eye–hope you aren’t trapped inside, forced to sew princess wear for the rest of your days.
July 30th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
three hearty cheers for the quilted bodice! Looking forward to your Autumn take on the quilted garment.
July 30th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Oh, this is such a sweet dress!
July 31st, 2010 at 9:04 am
Lovely! I loved the extra stitching on the bodice. So sweet. And I’m with you on the princess thing…I’ve found a way to make it a little deeper. If you are interested, you can find what I did for my little “princesses” here: http://lilyandthistle.blogspot.com/2010/07/turning-thrift-store-frame-into.html
August 2nd, 2010 at 8:31 am
Holy Crap…LOVE! oh, oh, oh, oh, oh…
August 2nd, 2010 at 3:44 pm
oh I love it so! that’s what I want to do with my heather ross too. cute cute cute!!
August 25th, 2010 at 12:23 am
Read The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munch.
August 27th, 2010 at 2:21 am
I was just about to suggest The Paperbag Princess as well! It does take a dragon to change her, though…..
I love the rawness of the dress and the stitched bodice is simply wonderful.
About Princesses – my in-laws constantly call my little one ‘their little princess’, which annoys me no end. I keep telling her that the important thing about a princess is that she looks after her people and is good and kind and generous, and she doesn’t always have to wear pink, that it’s about more than her being pretty or having good things happen to her.