And “sew” it goes.

Emma made her first “real” sewing project this summer. She’d been asking me to help her make a dress for a while and we finally made the time. I also bought her her own Bernette sewing machine this summer. It came in to the store used and I got it for a song. So now she can sew whenever she feels like it without having to ask me to use my machine.

We chose a number of different patterns because she liked details from all of them and we discussed how to combine them to make exactly what she wanted. In the end she chose this pattern from the Simplicity Project Runway collection: 1803. We made a few modifications like taking off the cap sleeves and pleating rather than gathering the skirt.

She chose an embroidered cotton eyelet for her main fabric so we interlined it with a lightweight cotton batiste. If we were to use this fabric again we might choose a light colored lining fabric to give it some depth and subtle color.

She did all the work herself with very little help from me. She even inserted the zipper herself! I helped her with some of the fitting issues and deciphering some of the harder to understand pattern instructions.

Overall she is very happy with the results. Part way into the process she was getting discouraged because it was taking so long. She couldn’t understand why she couldn’t make a dress in a day like I do! I reminded her that I’ve been doing this since I was her age and eventually if she kept at it she’d be able to whip things together quickly too. But for now, the joy is in the journey.

She’s worn it out into the world a couple times. One being today to school. The first time she wore it, when we took these photos, she stopped into the store where I work to show it off. Her self esteem got a nice boost when my co-workers were very complimentary about it and the quality of her work.

This was a great experience for me too. Emma is my little artist and has a deep, creative, free-spirited soul. I tease her that I think she may be a Changeling, that the faeries took my baby and left her in its place. (She does have pointed elf ears!) Over the years there have  been times that we just didn’t “get each other”. One would think that now that she is a teenager that would be even more the case. But we’re actually growing closer and finding more commonalities than differences. I’m sure it helps that her sister is away at college now and we have more one-on-one time together. But I also think we are just growing into each other. If the faeries ever come back and want to take her back they’ll be in for a fight!