sewing for Rose

[mrsbrown]

I didn't get any sewing done, but I have audited Rose's Festival clothes and she has the following clothes to wear;

red flemish (cotton)
blue wool pin on sleeves
black wool partlet
black linen partlet
unfinished white linen partlet
black linen apron
green linen apron
green wool surcoat
purple/red tunic with embroidery around the neck (from celsa - was this a borrow or a hand me down?)
red wool hood that will fit until she's bigger than me
ugly blue wool cloak

Notice the lack of underwear?  Every chemise she owns will still fit, but her arms and legs are too long for her.  The hems are at knee height and the arms at the elbow.  Actually, almost all her dresses are in the same category - fit in the body but the skirts are too short.  The only one that doesn't "fit" has set in sleeves - I'll avoid them in future.

I've done really well.  Most of the dresses I discarded tonight have been worn since at least our trip to Canterbury Faire in 2009.

Tonight I patterned some underwear.  I guess I'll sew that sometime between now and Festival... I'm also thinking that some more aprons and partlets could be useful, so she can just change apron and partlet each day and keep her one dress clean enough.  Otherwise, maybe she's ready to just wear plain coloured linen/wool shifts with a belt.  I guess I could button them at the wrist so the sleeves can include growing room but not be annoying.  She could probably dress herself if I went that way...

Or maybe I could just make her another flemish in a lightweight wool with a bag lining - I made the last one in an hour, not including patterning.

Comments

[tangent_woman]

Would you be happy to have the tunic on a kind of loan? While my girls have outgrown it and my hanging on to it would be illogical, my girls and I feel an unexpectedly intense sentimental attachment to it (it was their first garb), so would like dibs on it when Rose grows out of it.

I do have another dress; same fabric, different cut, different embroidery. It is a proper four-gore dress made for my more slender daughter, and measures 46cm from shoulder to hem, and 43cm in the sleeve, so Rose will just be growing into it. Um, actually it will be very baggy on her; the torso is 40cm from arm-pit to arm-pit. Hmm.

I also have a child-size bag-lined blue wool hood (which will be familiar to you) which no longer fits my children. It might fit Rose, else should be forwarded on as a proper hand-me down.

[mrsbrown]

Thankyou, a kind of loan would be great.

Are you sure that dress is 46cm from shoulder to hem? Rose's measurement from shoulder to the floor is 94cm.

the wool hood should probably go to Hanbal and Ute, to be handed out again. Otherwise sjkasabi might like it.

[tangent_woman]

Blah, sorry; 96cm from shoulder to hem.

[montjoye]

I knew she had got tall. I imagine holding her old clothes against her rather emphasises that.

Is it worth putting extensions on the existing chemises?

[montjoye]

Actually you could do that trick with one or two of the short dresses too. There I would tend to chop a span off the hem and insert an extension piece- probably in a contrast. Even if you have the original fabric, it may well have faded.

[mrsbrown]

Those are great ideas. I suspect it will be a better use of time to just make new chemises and hand on these ones to sjkasabi.

I like the dress idea though again, it's a 2 hour project to make a baglined bodice and skirt and these dresses will work and fit someone else when they're 3-5. Also, I have to add about 50% to the skirt length. I don't think that will look like banding.

[montjoye]

thought you might say that. suppose in part I was trying to enable you time to make something for yourself? Besides, I enjoy making a new thing vastly more than fixing up an old one.