Bluebonnets and Homemade Dresses
So I've been noticing all these cute patchwork dresses and skirts on etsy.
I thought, "I bet I could do that...or at least something similar."
I looked at patterns at Hobby Lobby = $13. If I'm going to spend $13, I could just buy a dress (not a Corrina Couture dress, but still). Plus, we don't need dresses. We have two very active and generous grandmothers. My girls have more dresses than they can wear. I decided to scratch that project.
One pulling-my-hair-out afternoon, I dialed my good friend hoping for a few moments of adult convo. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm on my way to JoAnn's [as in JoAnn's Fabric]. I'm going to buy ribbon. I've started making hair bows as a creative outlet."
I felt the envy flood my entire being. I remembered making time for creative outlets...back in the day. If she could do it, SO COULD I!!
After we hung up the phone, I abandoned the dishes in the kitchen. I pulled out my fabric bins from under the bed. It took an entire dust rag to remove the bunnies who had happily made a home there.
Daughters asked, "Mommy, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to make y'all some dresses!"
Giddy with excitement, they eagerly pulled material out of the bins. My resolve for creativity came with 2 boundaries:
#1-- Do something simple that I could finish THIS WEEK, otherwise, I knew that life with 3 kids, husband, & house would usurp the creativity and these dresses would join the "incomplete projects" pile in my bottom drawer...and in my front closet...and on my top shelf.
#2--Use what I have. True creativity is about being resourceful, making something unique--so I didn't need a pattern, or the newest in-style fabric, right? Plus, shopping would just take up productivity time and spend more money.
I landed on making a t-shirt dress--quick because you just sew a ruffle to the bottom a shirt. No pattern needed because I wasn't doing anything tricky like making arm or neck holes. I found 2 coordinating scraps of fabric--enough for 2 patchwork ruffles.
Yes, you may recognize these scraps from the curtain that hangs in the girls' room, and Sweet Pea's nursery bedskirt.
The first dress took 1.5 hrs from start to finish. The second dress, only 30 minutes. It needed a little embellishment. I thought about putting the kids in the car to head to Hobby Lobby, but I remembered my #2 boundary: use what I have. I pulled out my ribbon box. I save ALL ribbon--I typically use it for scrapbooking or homemade cards, but I found 2 long lengths of pink grosgrain that I had cut off a gift bag--each piece was just long enough to wrap around the top of the skirt. "Waste not, want not" echoed in my mind. There wasn't enough to make a bow, so I needed something else--2 silver dollar sized turquoise button from my Grandma's button box = perfect.
Time spent = 2.5 hours
Money spent = $3 (for the matching pink shirts at Hobby Lobby).
And I had fun! Oh yeah!
My girls looked so cute skipping through the Texas Bluebonnets in these dresses.
I thought, "I bet I could do that...or at least something similar."
I looked at patterns at Hobby Lobby = $13. If I'm going to spend $13, I could just buy a dress (not a Corrina Couture dress, but still). Plus, we don't need dresses. We have two very active and generous grandmothers. My girls have more dresses than they can wear. I decided to scratch that project.
One pulling-my-hair-out afternoon, I dialed my good friend hoping for a few moments of adult convo. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm on my way to JoAnn's [as in JoAnn's Fabric]. I'm going to buy ribbon. I've started making hair bows as a creative outlet."
I felt the envy flood my entire being. I remembered making time for creative outlets...back in the day. If she could do it, SO COULD I!!
After we hung up the phone, I abandoned the dishes in the kitchen. I pulled out my fabric bins from under the bed. It took an entire dust rag to remove the bunnies who had happily made a home there.
Daughters asked, "Mommy, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to make y'all some dresses!"
Giddy with excitement, they eagerly pulled material out of the bins. My resolve for creativity came with 2 boundaries:
#1-- Do something simple that I could finish THIS WEEK, otherwise, I knew that life with 3 kids, husband, & house would usurp the creativity and these dresses would join the "incomplete projects" pile in my bottom drawer...and in my front closet...and on my top shelf.
#2--Use what I have. True creativity is about being resourceful, making something unique--so I didn't need a pattern, or the newest in-style fabric, right? Plus, shopping would just take up productivity time and spend more money.
I landed on making a t-shirt dress--quick because you just sew a ruffle to the bottom a shirt. No pattern needed because I wasn't doing anything tricky like making arm or neck holes. I found 2 coordinating scraps of fabric--enough for 2 patchwork ruffles.
Yes, you may recognize these scraps from the curtain that hangs in the girls' room, and Sweet Pea's nursery bedskirt.
The first dress took 1.5 hrs from start to finish. The second dress, only 30 minutes. It needed a little embellishment. I thought about putting the kids in the car to head to Hobby Lobby, but I remembered my #2 boundary: use what I have. I pulled out my ribbon box. I save ALL ribbon--I typically use it for scrapbooking or homemade cards, but I found 2 long lengths of pink grosgrain that I had cut off a gift bag--each piece was just long enough to wrap around the top of the skirt. "Waste not, want not" echoed in my mind. There wasn't enough to make a bow, so I needed something else--2 silver dollar sized turquoise button from my Grandma's button box = perfect.
Time spent = 2.5 hours
Money spent = $3 (for the matching pink shirts at Hobby Lobby).
And I had fun! Oh yeah!
My girls looked so cute skipping through the Texas Bluebonnets in these dresses.
