first birthday dress

Monday 18 January 2010
Well first day of childcare went great for me - I practically skipped home and had fours hours of peaceful sewing in which time I nearly finished sewing a blouse from whoa to go except for the buttons. Not so great for Anna though.... Apparently she cried a lot and refused to eat or drink too. I only left her there for half a day today to ease her into it, and so I could bring her home for her afternoon nap in her own bed to lessen the trauma (which took more than an hour to settle her) but tomorrow she spends a whole day there. Oh well, I'm sure she'll be right! Is that heartless of me that I didn't even cry or feel bad at all? I just keep thinking it's something that countless little kids go through, and eventually when they toddle off to school it will be the same thing anyway.

I've just remembered that I forgot to show you all the little dress I made for her birthday. I plan to make a dress each birthday and put them away in a box so that she has quite a collection by the time she's 21. Of course she probably won't wear the dresses I make for her from the 13th birthday or so onwards, but still I like the idea of starting a new tradition. First up is this pretty pink number:


I used a vintage pattern, Butterick 5521 which is undated but is maybe early 1970s? It is a simple three panel tunic with a large tulip collar that would be just perfect for catching all sorts of food and drink spills if it were to be an everyday dress. I made the body of the dress out of some pink floral seersucker, and the collar from a waffle weave cotton in white that was from the stash.

It came out a little large for my little beanpole, so I took it in a little to get a better fit. It was also a little long even though Anna is quite tall for her age and despite the pattern envelope showing it as a top over shorts. There's those deceptive pattern illustrations at work again!


It's getting a little hard to photograph this wriggly little worm now that she is power walking around holding onto the furniture, so lucky my mum was there to hold on to her for one little minute to get these photos:



Ahh yes, I only put one lot of christmas decorations this year, and yet there they still are in the background!

One thing that did mesmerise her was the candle on her birthday cake. That funny looking cake is supposed to be shaped as a number one, but it tasted better than it looks!

Which the birthday girl absolutely loved! Notice that I've already taken the dress off, and put her in a ginormous bib, that dress is sure not practical.


Thank you all for your lovely comments on the yellow skirt. It looks great when standing still and I can arrange the fabric to fall properly, but I decided to wear it out at least once and make a judgement on it after that. Verobirdie - I agree that the Burda blouse looks better in a solid rather than a floral like that used by Burda in the magazine, the details get lost otherwise. Redhotpepper - thanks for the tip on the saliva, sounds bizarre but I'll give it a go next time but napisan worked just fine this time around. Gail - I stocked up on some lovely shirting material when I was in Bangkok a few years ago, it was only $2 - $5 aus a metre and how I cursed luggage weight limits! Carolyn - I've been dusting ans polishing my heels, it's been a while but I can't wait to wear them again.

Now it you'll excuse me, I have some buttons to sew on and a few more patterns to cut out!

9 comments:

  1. Anna was very chic in her fist birthday dress.
    I'm sure she'll be ok at childcare as soon as she realizes there's fun to be had there.
    Can't wait to see the beautiful things you're going to sew...

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  2. Those thoughts you're having that you "should" be feeling guilty? Lose them. You'll be a much better mom if you're not completely overwhelmed by spending 24 hrs a day with your kid. I know I am, anyway.

    Cute dress.

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  3. I have had almost all my kids go to a part-time preschool, we call it mothers day out, they all cried at times, but once I left, were ok. Andrew did not due to his CP, but went to public school at 3, never cried. He was ready to go be with kids his age. She will get over it once she makes "friends". Hayley, my almost 2 year old, also goes 2 days a week now, she no longer cries, did a bit when we left her, now she bounces off. Cute dress. I love that collar, but agree it could be a stain magnet. Looks late 60's to very early 70's. I bet you are ready to go back to work. I am, now that they are all growing up.

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  4. Personally I love your point of view on Anna going to school! Believe me she will be running from you faster than you are going to want to admit! *smile* Glad that you got some "me time" to work on a new blouse...can't wait to see it!

    And I love the tradition of a new dress for every birthday...I wish I thought of that when my daughters were young!

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  5. My goodness that year went fast! I love your idea of starting a birthday dress tradition. You're right that Anna won't want to wear them after about 13, but I think you should make her put them on for a photo at least. That will add to the embarrassment factor later in life.

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  6. That is simply adorable, so cute.

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  7. Happy Birthday Anna! Has it really been a year??

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  8. So cute, a great new tradition and a great first birthday dress! My little one HATED the cake, and as soon as she got some on her hand started crying bloody murder. I think the second birthday will go a bit better!

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  9. One year old? WoW! Being as your about to go back to work... your doing really good! The dress turned out cute! And you know, it all depends on if you keep up with the styles of the time whether or not by the time Anna hits 13 if she will want to wear stuff you make! She may wear it but not want anyone to know you made it... or it may be that she will want everyone to know... especially if she gets lots of completments on it! Great idea! Depending on if you have any/many more kids if that all works out for you! LoL....

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