I’ve been on the Internet less the past couple of days because I’ve been busy sewing. Because I am not very adept at sewing, it takes me a long time to get anything done. Since I’ve spent two days on this project (days I can never get back, mind you), I thought I’d share the fruits of my labor.
I had to sew a dress for my daughter for school.  This year, my daughter was blessed with a wonderful, creative teacher who has assigned the kids things like nature walks (did I mention I like to observe nature from my window, or my sofa via the Discovery channel?), discovery hikes where we search for things in their natural habitat–like birds and spiders (did I mention I hate spiders?) and a “living book report.”  For the “living book report,” the kids have to dress up as a character from the book and talk about that character’s role in the book. (As an aside, you may want an uninspiring drill-and-kill teacher; your kid will complain, but at least you won’t be out hunting for spiders or sewing costumes.)
My daughter chose Ava the Sunset Fairy (from the novel of the same name; pictured above). Â I couldn’t find this awesome multi-hued fabric, and my husband is against spray paint and fabric dye, so I had to go for the general theme here.
This is the dress I made. (I embroidered the sun. If you’ve never embroidered, the hardest part about embroidery is detangling the embroidery floss. I’m not joking. Seriously. Do it wrong, and you will be cursing the people who invented this type of thread.)
And now, my daughter is a fairy. Book report is today, so I’ll let you know how it went next week. (Here’s the worst thing–she doesn’t want to be Ava for Halloween! Yes, she wants a different costume.)
I’m officially done with sewing. With the number of woman-hours I put in on this dress, it would have been cheaper for me to convince my daughter to read a batgirl book, and run to Target for a costume. (Yes, I am quite aware that is not “Awesome Parenting 101.” But you can help. Buy my book, so my children can get therapy later in life).
I’m off for now. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!
Great job RJ. I used to have a love-hate attitude towards costumes. I used to dread the thought of it as the time approached, always seemed to leave it to the last minute, but loved the challenge of making a costume from scratch rather than buying it and the satisfaction of seeing the final product. My daughter seemed to appreciate the home-made costumes more than a bought one – though I’m sure as she got older, she used to also enjoy seeing my expression as she revealed what she would like her next costume to be!
Yes, Mel, I like your description of it. Sewing is a love-hate relationship, that’s tilted toward hate for me. What I like most about sewing is that you start with just some fabric and end up with this useful thing when you’re done. It’s a bit like writing a novel. Only for me, sewing is like writing a novel in French (and I don’t know French, so it’s a struggle).
Wow, what a dedicated mom you are. That’s sweet.
Thanks for the compliment, Yvonne. I try to help her, even if it’s not my strongest skill set.