This has never happened before: I asked Freya to let me take a photo in the new frock I made, and instead of carrying about her normal 3 and a half year old business while I merrily snapped away, she started striking poses. Some were dramatic - a few power punches, a couple of Tree Foo Tom moments - some gymnastic - arabesque, headstand - and some alarmingly fashion forward - she has the 'London Look' to a T. All highly amusing, but detracting somewhat from the dress!
Anyway, after much coaxing of the temperamental model, here are the tamer shots of my latest creation:
The shape is based on a mexican folk dress that she'd grown out of. The
style is very basic but I like it's boxy smock-ness - perfect for a
knock-about dress. I used a charity shop doilly for the neck trim and
some broiderie anglaise and ribbon for the hem decoration. The main fabric is a 30s
revival print and the yoke is a tangerine orange.
I roughly increased the size of the original dress by adding 5mm to the width on each side of the yoke and increasing the length. Overall I'm pretty pleased - it's not the most 'finessed' of garments, but I think it's got rustic charm! I was however, marked down a few points by my model for a lack of "twirliness". I must remember that twirls are very important these days - maybe that would have got me less of the "London look" and more "happy pre-schooler"!
Charity shop find: 'The Happy Forest' 1968 story book with music by Eric Winstone (band leader, composer, journalist, television and radio personality), illustrated by Susan Aspey
Vintage style baby deer decoration
