Thursday, April 09, 2009

That one Easter without any chocolate bunnies

I can picture my mother's face as she describes the new white sandals she received each Easter Sunday. Growing up surrounded by the Black Forest, spring was still bitterly cold on 10 Rocky Lane, and her new sandals would trek through the snow dampening her eyelet socks on her twenty two mile walk to church.

As she grew older she would hand sew her own dresses using styles seen in borrowed German fashion magazines. My mother, always the fashionista, gets lost in a train of thought when painting a picture for me of her creations. I have always been envious of her impeccable taste and eye for fashion. I can only imagine her dresses in my head. When we immigrated to the United States she left behind her sewing machine, her dresses, and any photos documenting her hard work.

What I can do now is use my imagination for inspiration.

This year for Easter, I desperately wanted something special for the girls that they could hand down to their own daughters. An heirloom. Yearning for some touchable memories of my own I wanted to secure something for my daughters. So, in this day and age, I logged onto my laptop and exchanged dozens of emails with a sweet cyber-girlfriend about little girl's dresses, fabrics, styles, buttons, and designs of hand smocking. What do you expect from a busy mommy blogger? My fancy sewing machine has been gathering dust ever since the new Target broke ground.

The outcome? Beyond my wildest expectations. The girls will be wearing matching hand smocked, ankle length, pink cotton sateen dresses with enormous tie bows in the back that were lovingly sewn and smocked by The Good Flea (whom sometimes blogs about her hobby and I begged her to take on my project). My son will be wearing a matching pink button down from Target.


Thank you dearest Flea for becoming a part of our permanent family history. My daughters will always remember that one Easter Sunday when their mother forbade them to eat any chocolate bunnies. It was totally worth every stinking penny and many many many more. I owe you and my dentist husband thanks you.

****

Shameless plug-in: I have so many super giveaways scheduled. Like this ongoing EASY-BAKE oven and classy baby blankets. Please follow my review blog or my FaceBook account for updates, so I don't have to plug in updates on my posts. The review/giveaway site is not for me, it's for you to thank you for tuning in.

41classy comments:

Melissa @ I Pick Pretty said...

Such a wonderful keepsake for your daughters, and what a fantastic dress. I so wish my family would have held on to things like that - but it's fine because I just plan to do it myself.

Indy said...

So beautiful. Great job Flea. And good luck keeping Fifi clean. LOL.

Kate Coveny Hood said...

I love it. So beautiful.

Amy said...

Those dresses are gorgeous!! My daughter had a many lovely smocked things, but all boutique-bought. I've kept some for her.

Jessica said...

How BEAU-tee-ful! I love them!

Tonya Staab said...

Absolutely beautiful. She did a great job. I think this is such a wonderful tradition that your daughters can carry on.

Cecily R said...

It's beautiful...what a gorgeous new addition to your history!

Lisa said...

beautiful dresses! make sure to post a picture of the girls looking beautiful (and clean) in them!

Half Gaelic, Half Garlic! said...

I cannot wait to see your girls wearing these beautiful dresses.....WOW...the girl has some talent!!

Have A Happy Easter!

Lisa

Ed said...

That is one good looking Easter outfit. My girls would have it destroyed in minutes. Hope you have good luck keeping them tidy.

Flea said...

You know, those dresses are cotton and washable. I'd hate to be the reason your girls couldn't eat chocolate bunnies at Easter. :) And thank you.

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

Wow! Those dresses are stunning! Can't wait to see the girls in them!

Diva's Thoughts said...

How wonderful!!! What a pretty dress. Your girls are going to LOVE this when they get old enough to appreciate the significance.

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Oh! So pretty!!! I hope the girls have a lovely Easter!!

Becca said...

Gorgeous! That is so special.

Stephanie said...

Beautiful!!!!!

Unknown said...

Absolutely gorgeous!! There is NOTHING quite like hand-sewn dresses that you will have memories of forever. Happy Easter! : )

(can't you change them out of them and THEN give them chocolate bunnies? ; )

Gretchen said...

So pretty and so much better than store-bought.

Now, I dont' want to go all "challengy" on you or anything, but you should try to make dresses for them for next year. Maybe not the smocking, but you could make a dress. I know you could. It would be SO special to know their momma make it for them.

I sometimes make clothes/robes/pajamas for my kids, and those are their favorite wardrobe items.

Unknown said...

Easter was always exciting because it meant a new spring dress, and my mom would have us get together before church and take a picture of us in our nice new outfits. Unfortunately my childhood was the late 80s/early nineties, so now I look back at those photos and think, "what were we thinking?" But my mother made those dresses, and they were the fashion at the time, so mostly I just remember that she loved me enough to spend time and money to make me something pretty and new. They'll remember these beautiful dresses their classy mommy took the time to have made for them forever! Love is the perfect thing to remember at Easter!

Jessica said...

What an amazing gift! They will look so beautiful and I'm sure will want to play dress up for a long time!

Michele said...

Beautiful! They will thank you one day when they have something to give to their daughters.

Tara Smith said...

Nothing classier than a smocked dress (and not one of the store-bought cheapies, either!).

My mom taught me to smock when I was a little girl. I don't have the patience to sew, so usually I smock the "insert" for my girls' dresses and she puts them into the dress.

2008 dresses
http://taramomto2girls.typepad.com/taras_new_rambling_place/WindowsLiveWriter/IMG_4423.jpg

2007 dresses
http://taramomto2girls.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/04/09/p1010018.jpg
http://taramomto2girls.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/04/09/p1010019.jpg

Tara Smith said...

Ok...so my links didn't work. Smocked dresses rock!

Rachel said...

Go girl! P, those are gorgeous! I'm still working on learning to sew a straight line ;-) LOL.

I am so impressed. You are an inspiration to me. I may pinch you at BlogHer just to make sure you're real.

Unknown said...

Those are truly distinctive and very pretty.

Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] said...

Flat out friggin gorgeous.

I want one. Or two. I have two girls who would complement the dresses perfectly.

Just sayin.

the mama bird diaries said...

How adorable. I'm so excited for Easter. Even though my girls will be wearing Dora nightgowns all day. 'Cause that's how they roll these days.

2 Little Irish Boys said...

I love Easter outfits and creating wonderful Easter memories. My sister and I always got a new dress, sandals and bonnet!!

JCK said...

OH, I can't wait to see the outfits!

Kari said...

How sweet! My mother doesn't have anything from her childhood, either. I wish she did. That is why my mom has hoarded EVERYTHING we ever owned in a storage unit. I am not complaining though.
I LOVe the dresses! I am looking forward to seeing a family picture!!!

Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional said...

They turned out gorgeous! What a great idea.

Chelsea said...

Oh my gosh that is gorgeous! I totally thought you were going to say you learned to sew and did it yourself and I was prepared to be a little embarrassed because I'm still trying to figure out my sewing machine!

Crystal D said...

Love that pretty dress. I am going to keep browsing Etsy for little girl dresses. Handmade is just so much cuter than what I can find in the stores right now.
And may I recommend individual containers of cereal in the baskets for Easter morning. My girls are just happy to get to eat something from their basket even if it means the bunnies have to wait until after church when the dresses come off.

Jill said...

Oh my goodness - those dresses are gorgeous! And hand smocking? That was done with serious love!

Karen MEG said...

So, so beautiful!

suchsimplepleasures said...

that's gorgeous!! what a wonderful dress to be able to pass on. it reminds me of my blue eyelet dress that was made for me when i was little, that i passed on to my daughter!!

Anonymous said...

why my comment posted as such simple pleasures...is weird. sigh.

anymommy said...

Adorable. I hope tomorrow is a wonderful, memorable day. Put big aprons on them before they dig into the bunnies!

Laura said...

What a wonderful idea - and wow - that dress is amazing!

Happy Easter!

I have my first ever give away contest on my blog - it is a wonderful piece of wear-able art from Star Creations - hope you enter to win!

Zoeyjane said...

I love that dress. It's perfect for a tea party. Or, well, anything not including dirt.

MIT Mommy said...

They are GORGEOUS!! That work is unbelievable.

Gladys did not wear a gorgeous dress to Easter mass. She wore a very Gladys dress to Easter. I'll probably blog about it tomorrow, or you'll see her wearing it at the park eventually =).

Oh, and Flea's work is amazing, at least what I've seen on it online.

Happy Easter!

 

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