Growing Up Handmade
8:00 AMWhen I saw the call for bloggers for the #growinguphandmade blog tour, I was sad, because I couldn't join. 😢 I signed Simply By Ti up as a sponsor and thanked my lucky stars that I didn't have a Tween or Teen. My babies weren't THAT old. Except, apparently mom brain had kicked in. Because my oldest turned 9 last week. 9! NINE! Do you hear me? NINE! So here I am with my post for the tour.
My oldest daughter is pretty lucky. For all of her remembered childhood, she has worn handmade. We occasionally would buy her something that I had no patience or willingness to make (like puffy winter coats), but for the most part, she's had nothing but mama made goodness.
And it is a good thing too! We had to shop for leggings once for her gymnastics competition. Yes, it would have been faster for me to make black leggings. However, I was all out of black cotton lycra! We went to 5 different stores trying on black leggings. (OH THE INSANITY!) Our options were leggings that would fit her waist but fit like capris OR leggings that had the right length but were baggy in the knees and would fall down. She opted for the size 6x, too short but wouldn't fall down ones. She also made me promise to never run out of black cotton lycra again.
My daughter loves handmade. It always fits right. And never like anything any of her friends wear either. She likes being unique. To keep her in handmade, I sew to her likes. She picks the patterns, fabrics and accent details. We window shop at stores and she points out fashion trends she likes and things she thinks are stupid. I learned long ago that ruffles were NOT her thing. Also, no dresses and nothing restrictive.
Every year for her birthday, I sew her up a capsule to add to her current wardrobe. This year was no different. She got 9 items that would fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten a chance to photograph them all. But I will, and I promise to blog those later. Just know, these are the patterns SHE chose in the fabrics SHE wanted. I had zero input on this aside from doing the manual labor.
Outfit 1:
Made For Mermaids Claire made with different cotton lycra fabrics front and back (both views pictured) and Everything Your Mama Made and More Freestyle Harem Pants in french terry.
Outfit 2:
I have to admit, I had to take like 1 million photos to get these ones. The pre-teen angst is strong with this one. I can't tell you how many photos of eye rolls I got with these photos shoots, lol.
My daughter has already promised that I can sew all of her clothes for the rest of her life. She regularly tells me she's too awesome for store bought stuff. I hope she feels this way forever.
Also sewn, but not yet pictured:
My Childhood Treasures Leotard, Jocole Faux Wrap Skort, Big Little Pathfinder Vest, Jalie 3245 Raglan.
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7 comments
You do a great job LISTENING to what they want and if it is reasonable you make it happen! This is the biggest caveat I need to address as my kids are getting older. It gives me such joy to see my kids enjoy their handmade.
ReplyDeleteOh how fun that your daughter says she's too awesome for store bought stuff! And how amazing that you sewed up 9 things!!!
ReplyDeleteMy biggest problem is finding patterns that work for my tall girls whose length is in their torso.
ReplyDeleteShe's a lucky little girl. Most likely she will grow up and learn to sew her own. I did. Start her young. I remember basting in zippers when I was her age.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lucky gal to have had almost all mama-sewn clothes! And that made me laugh about the eye-rolling during picture taking! I can totally relate! Great patterns you've chosen! :) Lisa
ReplyDeleteI love how she wishes you to sew for her forever:) Have to admit I relate to the eye rolling!!!
ReplyDeleteI hope my kids allow me to sew for them forever! All of the outfits look great, but that blue Clare is stunning on her--that's her color for sure! :)
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