It's a bit disheartening to already be the uncool mom (about 8 years early), but I suppose I've brought it upon myself.
Needless to say, I was pretty excited when I saw this print in my local fabric shop.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
pink frills and princesses
We don't really do Disney princesses in our family. Have you heard of the book Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein? I haven't read it, but heard her interviewed a few times. She aptly put into words my uneasiness with allowing my daughter to give her heart to the Disney princess empire. My position is not popular with my daughter. Every so often I overhear her confiding to one of her little friends, "My mom hates Disney princesses." (Though, in my defense, I have never used the word "hate" when explaining my reasoning for not having said paraphernalia in our house.)
It's a bit disheartening to already be the uncool mom (about 8 years early), but I suppose I've brought it upon myself.
Needless to say, I was pretty excited when I saw this print in my local fabric shop.
Rapunzel, but not Disney and not pink. I was saving it for the perfect occasion and Easter seemed to be it. Last year I made them personalized Easter skirts. The girls were delighted with them, but I think my older daughter still secretly craved a frilly Easter dress. So I decided to dress this year's up a bit. I had various scraps of pink silk dupioni - leftovers that a friend had given me. I fell in love with the pale pink and bright green combination (hopefully I'm not the only one who thought it the perfect color scheme) and designed the rest of the kids' Easter outfits around the five-year-old's dress.
I made hers fairytale-esque, with a graceful shawl-like neckline and a petticoat-type ruffle under the dress.
And cowboy boots (logically!).
Hopefully my coolness factor has increased just a tiny bit.
It's a bit disheartening to already be the uncool mom (about 8 years early), but I suppose I've brought it upon myself.
Needless to say, I was pretty excited when I saw this print in my local fabric shop.
hard to get cooler than that. the silk and print are both to die for. did you put a zipper up the back? fantastic design.
ReplyDeletedo we get to see the other outfits? I've never quite managed to put together outfits for easter. maybe summer solstice?
Hopefully the five-year-old thinks so as well!
ReplyDeleteYes, a zipper in the back. I really liked the way the dress turned out - I'm thinking of putting together a pattern for it for the shop. (If I ever get the time, that is :)
Managed is a relative word. I was working on these for weeks a bit at a time. Then came Easter weekend and Cody picked up the slack as I worked on them for the bulk of the day, including a few hours in the car of hand stitching. Then, determined I would finish them up I was awake until 4:30 Sunday morning.
I was reminded once again how unimportant finishing up sewing projects is when compared to the other things that fall by the wayside as a result (including sleep). That said, it is fun having the finished product.
The rest of the outfits are forthcoming...
We are reading "Cinderella ate my daughter" (finally!) for Book group. Liz had it right to read this thing, and I found myself nodding along with many of her ideas. It was (apparently) pretty tame for her, but I think she did a GREAT job of talking about media geared towards children, and how to try to parent and educate our children so they don't fall into traps.
ReplyDeleteI was also HUGELY anti-Disney princess paraphernalia, but loved the stories and the movies. Still, it seems lots of that powerful pink princess stuff has wormed its way into our home. Maybe that's because of four daughters.
I've still returned some birthday "Princess" gifts to the store.
I love the dresses! I imagine you will get back to sewing once you get settled in Oregon. I hope you love it there! It is beautiful, if wet. And, there should be lots of wildflowers for you daughters to pick without worrying about them belonging to somebody in particular... or maybe you'll have your own garden where she can plant and then pick her own flowers?
Miss you!