Sewing Skirts

As of late, Mary has asked a couple of times if I would buy her some skirts. I think one-piece dresses are way easier for little girls to dress in and avoid coordination problems, plus it's really hard to find skirts that even cover the knee. Last week I approached a friend of mine (whose little daughters I see dressed in longer skirts) and I asked where she buys them: She told me that she finds that at random, sometimes if that style is in fashion at the moment, and she always buys them (including in larger sizes for years to come) when she sees a good one. But then she asked me the obvious, "If you can sew their dresses, why don't you just sew them some skirts?"

Well, I don't know how long it would have taken me to figure that one out, myopic as I sometimes am! Sewing a skirt is way faster and easier than sewing a dress!

Using some scrap fabric, I've already sewed Mary two skirts. It takes me less than one hour for the simplest pattern, longer if I try something fancy.

This is the first time when sewing is becoming more than just a hobby and is becoming a practical skill in our home--a day I knew was coming and the reason why I was practicing. It's pretty easy to find modest clothing for the youngest of girls but fast becomes very challenging. Even now, Mary is three years old and of average height, but I'm putting her in size 5 dresses off the rack--which I then have to tailor (e.g., make the sleeves shorter)--just to find dresses that cover her knee!

As fall approaches, I went to my bins of clothing to see if I had a big stash of hand-me-downs in size 5 and I have almost none. So I began hunting in consignment stores, bought all of two dresses, and saw that this is the age when shopping is becoming a lot more difficult. (Mary showed me one size 5 dress off the rack and commented that it was a really cute "shirt" because of how little there was to it.) Therefore, I bought fabric with plans to sew four fall dresses for her.

Now, how to find the time? Especially with the fact that our beloved afternoon babysitter has moved on to greater adventures and the baby sleeps in my sewing room at night . . . I still have to learn how to sew in snatches of just a few minutes at a time! Because I am still a novice, sewing requires so much concentration for me that I feel I need a minimum of one hour just to make some headway on a project.

Snapshot, as taken by John, of Mama last week, at 17 weeks' along