My Big Girl is 9. And a half. It makes me just a little sad.
Yep. Thomas, that is exactly how it makes me feel.
She just won’t wear the cutesy little jumpers anymore.
She asked for some suggestions for sewing for her big girl.
I thought I’d share them with you too.
Here are my tips for sewing for your 8, 9, 10, 11-year old…
1. Don’t go shopping for clothes in most stores. Really. It will just disgust you.
2. Give your Big Girl some fabric swatches, some colored pencils, some paper and get out of the way. Really. Step away Mom. Major important—Keep your mouth shut. Let her create. Nobody’s saying you have to make every one of her designs.
3. When you look at patterns, ignore those ugly photos on the front of the envelopes. Again, this will disgust you. Instead, try to see the construction lines. Use your imagination (remember what that is? you use it when you picture your baby as a, well, baby) and try to envision the patterns in cool fabrics.
4. Take your Big Girl to the fabric store. Try not to get disgusted. With her. Or with the rising costs of cotton. Yikes. Before you go in the store, set some basic guidelines like “chartreuse and orange are not appropriate for Easter Sunday” or “I’m not paying $17/yard!!!” .
5. Be ready to get creative. If you do happen to find the perfect pattern to make the bodice of the dress your Big Girl has sketched, grab it. Preferably at a 99 cent sale. You can always tweak the skirt or the sleeves or the collar or…
6. Read the posts here and here. Gush over them in my comment sections and draw inspiration from my work. Ha.
7. Call a friend to commiserate that your baby is growing up and then get to work sister! You’ve got a dress to make!
Last, but not least…
here are a few patterns that we’ve picked up lately…
You can click on the pictures to find the numbers and please excuse the links rather than pictures at the end. Simplicity’s website didn’t want to do what I wanted it to do. 🙁
My oldest granddaughter is nearly 11 and is very picky about what she wears. She and I live 900 miles apart, so we get on our computers and go to different clothing sites, like Justice and Target, etc… I also send her photos of patterns I have. We consult and decide what will work. We discuss fabrics, I buy what I think she will like, send her a photo and so far, I'm batting 100. She's liked what I've picked since we've started doing this. I guess her sister, who is next in line at 8 years old, will be wanting to do this soon, too.
Thanks for coming by Southern Somedays and becoming a follower! I am "sew" envious of your skills…I haven't YET learned to sew but I do hope to get around to it one day (maybe before I have a grandchild to sew for!)
It is hard when our girls hit that "tween" phase and the world has decided they are the next sexy thang and markets it that way…gross!
Thanks, Salinda! I have the one pattern with the green dress on it. I like the others too. It's funny when Emma and I go fabric shopping together. She's picks things I never would have thought of. It is so hard to hold my tongue!