Pippi!

Here's Louisa dressed as Pippi Longstocking for Book Week dress up. The brief from the description in the book was a blue dress with red patches. I made a pinafore dress, expecting the weather to be a bit cooler than the higher than usual August temps we've been having! I used a light denim with my favourite red fabric for the contrast band, pocket and heart patches.

I used a easy pattern that I've used for Louisa before. That time it was size 5 and it was way too big. This time it was a size 7! I did want it to be bigger so she could wear it as a dress next winter, but still - it made me realise yet again how quickly my girls are growing up!

We teased her piggy tails to make them stick out (I tried using pipe cleaners but Louisa's hair is too thick and heavy), and used some red coloured hairspray. Stripey stockings and some freckles completed the look.

The Kimono

Here's Louisa's kimono dress up for a Multicultural celebration at her school.

I did use a pattern as a base: McCalls M4953 but made loads of changes, reducing the material significantly by making the sleeves and the body shorter, and doing away with the lining. I felt that in the Queensland heat, extra fabric is not a good thing.

Of course I got a little carried away and cut it too short, so added a contrast band around the bottom rather than the neckline, and I really like the effect. By the time I got to the sash/obi part, I winged it with a rectangle of fabric and some velcro. I have no idea what the pattern required as I'd tossed it aside by that stage. That's one of the things I enjoy about kids' dress ups. There's no real rules and you can experiment without feeling too bad if it doesn't work out! But in this case I really like it and it's a great addition to the girls' dress up box.
The fan was a gift from some friends who went to Japan recently, and the drinking straws in the hair were Louisa's idea, which I think look very cute.

A Mermaid's 'Tale'

One of Louisa's favourite books is Can You Catch A Mermaid? by Jane Ray. It's quite a melancholy book really, but both my girls enjoy me reading it for their bedtime story quite regularly. The illustrations are just beautiful, and story (about letting your friend go home even if it makes you sad) is quite moving!

This week was Book Week Parade at school and Louisa decided she wanted to be Freya, the mermaid character from the book. Of course, the tail had to be detachable, as Freya comes onto land and the shy little girl she befriends doesn't know initially that she is a mermaid.

So here's my effort. Admittedly the costume is a little dodgy in parts as I found the stretch velvet a little tricky to work with (and of course my twin stretch needle broke halfway through!), but the tail worked out beautifully.

Kindy Dress Up Day! Then and now.

Today is 'P' day at Louisa's kindy, so she is very happy to be going dressed as a princess. We almost had to give up and put her in her Tinkerbelle pixie costume as I was a little bit stressed about getting it completed. A busy weekend away, parents visiting, and my dear husband deciding to take a day off (!!) meant that I was still stitching on sequins last night. I'm very happy with it apart from the collar section, but hopefully the other children won't be looking too closely. Here's a smiling Louisa photo (I originally posted the serious one instead of the smiling one by accident) And on the subject of kindy dress ups, here's me as Holly Hobbie in about 1975 at my kindy dress up. Three of us even managed to get our picture in the local paper, but geez, you think they could have chosen a smiling child - very serious, I was!