In My Easter Bonnet With All The Frills Upon It...

Easter is traditionally a day to get decked out in ones new seasonal togs.  I read somewhere this week that this is to symbolize our new life in Christ.  Christ's death and resurrection allows us rebirth and new clothes are one way to show this.  I'm not sure I am ready to use the gospel as an excuse to shop, but it was an interesting notion to be sure.  

When I was a girl my mom made my sister and I new dresses for Easter.  It made me feel special and I thought she was amazingly talented.  My favorite Easter dress story was the year my brother Sam was about 3.  He watched my mom fashion beautiful dresses for my sister and I and wondered where his was. 

"I want a pretty dress!" He requested.  If you know Sam you know he is nothing if not persistent!  He finally wore Mom down and she made him a "pretty dress".  The dress was really a red sailor suit with white piping and ties, the kind where the shirt buttoned to the shorts.  It was adorable!  

This isn't THE "pretty dress", but Mom did make this one for him too...

I am including this picture because it is cute and perhaps embarrassing of Sam in his diaper and because he told me he wouldn't read my blog as there was nothing of interest in it for him!

I continue the tradition by making dresses for my girls.  Because I know boys like having things made for them as well I always include something for them.  Usually the boys get ties.  One year they also got newsboy hats.  I also try to coordinate the kids clothes somehow.  I used to make everyone match, but as their size and body types require alternatives we now shoot for coordination.  It is an interesting challenge for me. 

The fact that Easter falls so late in the Spring this year was particularly advantageous to me.  It gave me more time to prepare.  I had started way back in February with me thinking I was all on top of everything by purchasing myself a redimade dress.  When I modeled it for Breadwinner he thought it too short.  (I admit to not paying that close attention to length in the store. I especially didn't sit down in it to see how far up the leg it rode.  I also should have had a small person climb up and down my lap several times to see how it would react to that particular mauling which occurs each Sunday morning during the worship service)  I was perplexed as to what to do until the older girls picked out a material for their dresses.  It matched my dress to perfection and I could see a refashion, and another chance to use my ruffler foot, on the horizon.  

My dress pre-refashion.  The collar already had a little ruffle and I felt good about that.   I also felt good that I had purchased a dress and had one less thing over which to concern myself as I dressed my six little dollies.  Oh well...

I cut a 4'' x double the width+ of my dress.  I then used my ruffler foot to ruffle both sides of the fabric.

I cut the dress apart and added the ruffled strip.

I don't have a picture of the dress all completed.  I did try it on, although I'm sure it doesn't matter as someone will be sitting on the ruffle when I wear it.  I'm okay with that.  I always have an excuse to be wrinkled...