Lulu Carter

Lolas Park Frock

Known formally as Anna Maria Horners Paper Fan Dress. Mostly.

When I saw Suzy the other week, she was putting together the sweetest fabrics to make a dress for her Miss M. Despite having a moment when I wondered if I was too old to wear Amsterdam houses on my clothing, I didnt think that much about it. But then I walked in here yesterday and yelp. There. The sweet little houses and market stalls print. SWOON.

One metre. In case I didn't know what to do with it other than a pillow for myself. On my side . You know.

This morning I woke and I knew I had to make my God Daughter 'The Dress'. Ignoring the fact that I had already made something else for her birthday (which has since been bumped to Christmas as you do), I got busy.

Because I had seen Suzy's, I assumed wrongly that the bottom panel was part of the pattern and for a moment, when I was doing the maths for the skirt, I envisaged Lola in a whopping great nightie. 

After tracing the pattern pieces for the bodice straight of the computer screen onto tracing paper ( which is what I do whenever it is a printable pattern and I am in a hurry) I sewed like a demon today. In between baking yogurt cake ( completely addicted) and taking to one of the wheels from the pram with a hammer then nearly breaking my finger tips trying to install the new part that came in the mail ( the damn wheel sailed off into the bushes yesterday on the way to school) and feeding the baby and cruising instagram, twitter and checking emails...I sewed.

 It is definitely a sew between drop off and pick up frock to whip up.

Anyway I made a dress. Not completely correctly but then I never really do. 

My fudgery is as follows:

The bottom panel ( which I know you ) is 6inches deep.

I french seemed. I know-booooring but overlockers and I don't really get on. I think edges should not be seen or heard.

I did not cut a front skirt piece and left back/ right back pieces for the skirt. Its about 4 inches shy of the pattern measurements but I managed because there was no seem allowance and I ditched a pleat. See? Cheeky.

I also didn't do the foldover skirt top attached to the bodice. Didn't really like it. Instead I inserted the skirt top and sewed it to the right side of the bodice, then pressed the lining side under and stitched it down much like you would if you machined your binding on quilts. This was scary for me as I hate a wonky on/off the line machined line too, and if Id had the time I would have whip stitched it but that damn clock was sweeping around by then.

Tick Tock.

The final act is the two buttons and this is where my machine and I had a bloody great fight. I'm sure if I'd bothered to change my blunting needle and sewed button holes more often therefore remebering which order I have to turn the dials.... Well it would have gone better.

There is a huge risk that I may match Miss Lola. You see I couldnt resist holding the skirt piece up to my waist and woo it would make a pretty skirt.

God Daughter is on a blue/green/ yellow kick at the moment so her necklace went a little like this.

 

family daze

Did you have a happy fathers day? Ours began with the usual. The night before, the boys came to me in a panic asking what "have we got Dad"? I showed them what I, the fascilitator of all occassions success or failure, had bought. Actually what their father had bought as he'd been totally indecisive with me about what he fancied for fathers day and I'd got fed up with it and announced he'd get diddly squat. Hmm.

I showed them the shirts, wrapped them because they were busy freaking out over their identical drawings on their hand made cards, and organised a hiding spot. They decided my hiding spot was not up to scratch and, when I wasnt looking, moved it to a better one.

Alright then.

On Sunday we woke to no Daddy. He had raced off to the airport because his parents needed to catch their flight back to melbourne. A bowling tournament commitment I believe.

While he was gone, Henry and I went crazy making crepes, caramelising strawberries and bananas to go with the crepes and decorating the kitchen table. Oliver sauntered out in time to greet Ashleigh and dig in to his breakfast.

There is something I'm not doing right isnt there? Somewhere along the line between toddlers who love to dust and make beds to practically adolescents who step out of their knickers and walk away, the wheels have fallen off. Crashed into the gutter leaving the house proud in feotal position by the side of the road,wine in hand.

Oliver turned nine on Friday. He did so without one single gift handmade by me. Now there is a slippery slope if ever I felt one. 

I think the entire restaurant singing 'Happy Birthday' to him and his local football team dining at the next table was the best gift he could have had though.

He seems taller. I bought him size ten pajamas from Boden and they fit him. I couldnt believe it.

Sunday we got dressed up and went off to Rozelle for some family photos. This is something we have been meaning to do since Henry was a baby. I imagine being married to a cinematographer/photgrapher is not unlike being married to a builder or landscape gardener. Your own is never done.

Well tripod in hand and Ashleigh in shoot mode, we stood and posed and turned and froze and sat and stood and looked this way and that. We dont quite have the shot I wanted and we certainly dont have enough with him in them, but there was only so many times he was going to focus, set the timer and run to us.

But it went well.

Until I realised that there was not one shot of Ashleigh with his three boys and he should have told me to put my feet together. Nothing is ever perfect though is it?

I think we do perfectly well being not remotely perfect. Somehow it fits.

xxxx