Where I come from, nurseries will try to get all kids into the spirit of any festivities that may be coming up. Since they tend to fall short of 'special occasions' during the summer months, my daughter's nursery would cleverly dedicate each summer week to impart the knowledge of a specific colour by combining it with a corresponding fruit.
To help engage children, the parents would be asked to dress their kids up in the chosen colour on the Friday of that week. Fun, right? Indeed I would always look forward to that tiny strip of paper that would ask me to dress my little pumpkin up... until, alas, Green Kiwi Day was announced, and it dawned on me that our house was void of green children-wear! What else could I do, but rummage through my unworn clothes for some inspiration??
And during this exercise I came across an old, hardly worn, olive green, cotton shirt, with bell sleeves. I stopped the moment I saw the colour, unfolded the garment, and let my imagination flow... and there it was, the idea in the figurative light bulb... I would make a maxi-dress out of the bell sleeves... it was just the right length, width and fabric for a maxi-dress!!
Here's how I went about it:
- I first unstitched the sleeves from the bodice;
- I unstitched the sleeves so I could lay them flat;
- I lay a jeans sleeveless dress belonging to my daughter, on top of the flat sleeves and cut around the perimeter of the dress
- I basted the side seams and the shoulders, made sure it fit my daughter nicely, then stitched the seams properly with my sewing machine.
- Finally I embellished the neckline with sequins
Et voila!
To help engage children, the parents would be asked to dress their kids up in the chosen colour on the Friday of that week. Fun, right? Indeed I would always look forward to that tiny strip of paper that would ask me to dress my little pumpkin up... until, alas, Green Kiwi Day was announced, and it dawned on me that our house was void of green children-wear! What else could I do, but rummage through my unworn clothes for some inspiration??
And during this exercise I came across an old, hardly worn, olive green, cotton shirt, with bell sleeves. I stopped the moment I saw the colour, unfolded the garment, and let my imagination flow... and there it was, the idea in the figurative light bulb... I would make a maxi-dress out of the bell sleeves... it was just the right length, width and fabric for a maxi-dress!!
Here's how I went about it:
- I first unstitched the sleeves from the bodice;
- I unstitched the sleeves so I could lay them flat;
- I lay a jeans sleeveless dress belonging to my daughter, on top of the flat sleeves and cut around the perimeter of the dress
- I basted the side seams and the shoulders, made sure it fit my daughter nicely, then stitched the seams properly with my sewing machine.
- Finally I embellished the neckline with sequins
Et voila!
