Sewing: Dresses

Many years ago, I promised my oldest two that for their sixteenth birthdays, they would get separate parties. The past thirteen years, they have shared parties, sometimes more graciously then others, but I wanted this to be all theirs. Our oldest turned sixteen this fall and as I promised, we planned two parties. I bought the boys suits and looked at purchasing dresses for the girls, but couldn't find anything we all liked in both sizes. So I decided to sew them.

We selected a pattern and fabric that would work for both parties, as well as Christmas and the father/daughter dance this month. We chose a lovely mid-fifteenth century style and gorgeous blue and silver fabrics. This was the first time I had ever sewn with metallic and don't recommend it! The little silver threads pulled and snagged easily while sewing and creating the dresses, but have continued to snag as they have been worn. I think I would have done a brocade without metallic if I was to do it again.

I also had to alter the dresses quite a bit, as my oldest is quite tall and the pattern didn't include both of their sizes, so the little one was completely re-patterned. After much deliberation, measuring, cutting, sewing, tearing out and resewing, we had two beautiful dresses with jackets for the parties. I had both girls assist with the process, including seam ripping, so these dresses were their creation too.

These photos truly don't do my girls or the dresses justice, but I hope you can imagine just how lovely they are! I appreciated the challenge of this project and see more matching dresses in my future sewing endeavors.