My then-four-year-old daughter wanted to be a princess for Halloween (of course) and she wanted me to make her costume. I agreed (of course) because I was wearing my Superwoman undies the day she asked. That was the same year my husband was sewing himself a new Batman cape and he was helping our son, who was 8 then, learn to sew a Robin costume. It was a very creative season in our household.
I took the little girl with me to pick out a costume pattern and scanned the directions. It looked pretty easy. It was a costume, right? We chose a remnant of a pretty pink brocade for the dress, a sheer pink for the sleeves, and a garland and ribbons for her headpiece. I estimated that this would take one afternoon to assemble.
I estimated wrong.
There were princess seams and French seams and a whole bunch of seams I had to look up in a sewing guide. Working with the sheer fabric was not something I would volunteer for again. The zipper was really long. There was a sheer cowl-like neckline. This costume turned into quite the couture gown.
Once it was finished, my daughter loved it. Loved. It. She twirled around in it with an enormous smile on her face. When she stopped twirling she looked up at me and said that she felt like a princess in that dress. That was good enough for me. The she said, "You get to be the queen, Mommy!" and curtsied. For just a moment, looking at the beautiful princess in front of me, I thought she might be right.
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| Halloween 2004 |
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| Halloween 2004 |
Gorgeous dress and so well told. It feels like we're having a conversation.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I had not thought of my voice as conversational or anything else for that matter, but sometimes it takes someone else to tell you what your voice sounds like.
DeleteLove this, and it turned out great! I agree with Robbie, it feels like we just shared that story over a cup of coffee in your living room.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Although I would prefer having coffee in someone else's living room -- mine has been overtaken by dolls!
DeleteI love this story. We had a little princess in our house too. I give you a lot of credit for fussing with the long zipper. I wimped out and went the Velcro route. :)
ReplyDeleteVelcro! That never crossed my mind. Yay for you being smart enough to bail on the zipper.
DeleteWow! That's quite the effort for Halloween.
ReplyDeleteIf I had known before I started... but I couldn't give up -- did you see her little face?
DeleteWow! That's a gorgeous costume on a stunning child! Good work on both accounts, mama!
ReplyDeleteI volunteered to make costumes for my synchronized skating one year. Never again.
Thank you. And volunteering to do costumes? That's some serious work. Sounds like you learned some very valuable lessons from that.
DeleteI wish I could make something like that. You do have some latent talent because if I attempted something like that i'd sew myself to the dress.
ReplyDeleteYou have gorgeous kids!
Thank you! The things you do when your kids ask, though...
DeleteI think it's so cool that you and your daughter were princess and queen (even if you didn't get a homemade costume) and your husband and son were batman and robin and that your husband was sewing his own costume and teaching your son to do the same while you sewed your daughter's.
ReplyDeleteI don't come from a sewing family, but my husband's mother taught him when he was quite young to sew, do laundry, and cook so he would never be dependent on a woman for those things. Yay for my mother-in-law!
DeleteShe IS a princess! So pretty! I have never in my life sewn an entire outfit and I don't ever expect to do so...my lack of measuring skills alone would do me in before I even got started :)
ReplyDeleteThat "measure twice, cut once" saying is so true. Otherwise it becomes measure once in a half-assed fashion, cut a lot.
DeleteI bow to your sewing skills and I agree with your daughter: you are Queen! Lovely, memorable story.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteGreat story and fantastic costume! I envy your sewing skills!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm dreading the day she asks if I can make a real dress for her, though.
DeleteOh wow, the dress is beautiful! And look at how handsome your little Robin is!
ReplyDeleteI also liked the way you told the story. Great job!
Thank you for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteI liked the conversational tone of this post. And I give your whole family props for their sewing skills and enthusiasm. If my kid asked me to sew her a costume I would stalwartly volunteer to take her to as many Value Villages as necessary to find the perfect dress (and then probably look at my gas budget and regret that I didn't specify how many places counted as "necessary.")
ReplyDeleteBut there you have it -- what won't we do for our kids? Thanks for stopping by.
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