I can’t believe it!  This is our last week for this season’s Project Run & Play.  As with each season, the final challenge is our signature look.

I have thought about what might define my children’s clothing style and this is what I came up with:

• I like little girls to look like little girls.  Luckily right now mine are very little, but even for older ones I just think children should dress like children.  There is plenty of time in life for dressing like a grown-up.

• I prefer classic styles for girls.  Sixties, Fifties, Forties, Thirties, Victorian, etc. I love the silhouettes, the details and the girliness of it all.  Ruffles, pleats, embroidery, sashes and bows.  So much goodness there.  I don’t like to use a ton of embellishment…only enough to add just the right touch.

     

• I tend to like solid color fabrics and subtle or graphic prints (nothing too busy).   And, if I do use a print, I like the fabric to be the main feature of the dress.

     

When the challenge list was announced Christian pointed out that the Easter dresses I had just made fit exactly as my signature look.

The fabric is a pinstriped Swiss dot with green and yellow on a white field.  (I cannot remember for the life of me where I got it, but I know I got it online somewhere.)  I just loved this fabric.  It is really light and I love the tiny dots and pinstripes.

I wanted to showcase the fabric so I chose a very traditional, simple pattern.  Esther’s dress is McCalls M5791 and Dinah’s is a sized-up, self-drafted version of that.

I tweaked the pattern a bit by adding a yellow band to the bottom of the lining on Esther’s dress and making extra-wide sashes for both girls.

The design isn’t going to set the world on fire, but I just love the simplicity and lightness and they were perfect for our Florida Easter.

…
Fun story about these dresses:  Esther’s dress is actually the dress I cut out for Dinah to wear to my sister’s wedding in April 2010.  Two years ago.  With the quilt I was finishing up for my sister and all the other wedding preparations I didn’t get to finish it.   And by the time I recovered Dinah had outgrown it.  So, all the little cut pieces sat in a box for two years until I pulled them out to make Esther’s Easter dress this year.  When I pulled it out I realized that I had a TON of that fabric leftover…enough to make a dress for Dinah too.  Yay for over-purchasing!