Monday, January 28, 2019

Ginger Beauty

Remember in my Grinchy post when I mentioned that the candy-cane binding wasn't *all* we picked up at my local quilt shop? Yeah. I gotta say, previous visits to the quilt shop with my daughter had been a little touch-and-go due to my daughter's attention span, but this time she was all in. We spent a good 45 minutes in the store, and she found tons of stuff to admire. But most of all, she found this unanticipated gem:


Sleeping Beauty character fabric. Aurora is my daughter's favorite Disney princess, and she was desperate not to leave the store without some. I was a little more leery (I'm trying to work through stash, not add to it), but in the end I decided that if I wanted to cultivate her love of quilt-store trips, I needed to be prepared to bring some fabric home now and then. So in our bag it went.


I tried to find a project that would put a dent in my sizeable knit stash after the Grinch dress, I really did.  But somehow this fabric was staring at me, my newly-acquired serger was staring at me, and fresh off my trip to the quilt store, I was REALLY tempted to go ahead and sew another woven pattern for curiosity's sake. I already had the Ginger and the Ginger Misses from a Violette Field Threads 4th of July sale, and if I wanted more woven patterns, I needed to prove to myself that I would actually make them. So...


Despite the dubious wisdom of making a halter-top dress in winter, off I went. The Ginger is elastic-backed, and it wasn't TOO hard to add extra 1/2" to the bodice and the skirt length, so I'm hopeful that even though I made it mid-winter, it will still fit this spring and summer.

This was my first VFT pattern, and after this, I am sure there will be others. The VFT Ginger tutorial was VERY well put together - well documented, lots of words, clear pictures with labels and stitch line marked where needed. I did find two mistakes in the pattern (slightly picky ones) but when I emailed the design team at VFT, they were corrected promptly.

And the result speaks for itself! A classic Marilyn Monroe style that my daughter can't help but pose in, in the perfect shade of pink and with her favorite princess...


No wonder she's got a big smile on her face!




2 comments:

  1. Princesses, extra twirly, AND pockets! This dress is a dream come true for any little girl!

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  2. Autumn is not the only one with a smile on her face! Seeing the sewing bug passed from my mom to me, from me to you, from you to your daughter/my granddaughter is so heartwarming. As I am sure you have experienced, when you hear your child repeat a phrase you often use, or repeat a motion you commonly make, a surge of pride wells up within in. Your color coordination, pattern selection, and excellent workmanship astound me. They should not surprise me, however, since I know you have tons of talent. Great job! And do not concern yourself with the season aspect. A female will wear what she likes independent of the weather if she feels good in it and thinks it makes her look pretty. I think you have achieved both. with this dress. So add a sweater shrug or a fluffy shawl. I did check out those Ginger links and I am so sorely tempted to get that elephant doll pattern. I still have several Stacy Hsu dolls to make up though so I really should hold off.

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