… and a few more old creations. (Don’t worry, these are drawing to an inevitable endpoint, as I go forwards through time and eventually wind up at “now”, at which point these posts will finish and you will be seeing new stuff only… It’s just that one of the goals I set myself was to document as much as I could of my handmade things in this blog, so bear with me here. This is a finite process…)
This is our little family (Sam on the way) in more stuff I made; Tim’s (Topkids) overall has been seen before here. I made my dress, completely inspired by the dress (below) in Beetlejuice, do you remember this? I basically fell in love with this loose long floral dress and set out to make myself close to an exact copy of it for myself. Fortuitously it worked well as a maternity dress too. I felt lucky that dropped waist blouse-y Laura Ashley numbers were quite fashionable during the years I was producing children…
The blue floral dress with lace trim that Cassie is wearing is a TopKids pattern.
Below is a four generation picture; my grandmother, mother, Cassie and me. Cassie is wearing a dress made to the same pattern as the blue one above. It is interesting how the very different fabrics used give each dress a completely different feel; this one seems kinda “smart” while the floral and lace above give a far more “pretty and dressy enough for a party” feel, no? Perhaps this tiny set of two dresses makes up another miniature rogue’s gallery (like yesterday), seeing the different looks you can get from one pattern by varying minor details; in this case the fabric.
This little romper is literally the only thing that I made for my own children and passed on to other little relatives that was returned to me (!) but unfortunately without the little blouse I had made to go with it. It had a really cute pink blouse to wear underneath, with a Peter Pan collar and full batwing sleeves gathered into elasticated wrists. The little floral romper here has a zip up the centre front and tabs with pearl snaps on the pockets and shoulder straps. From TopKids patterns.
Below is a picture of Tim and Cassie on Tim’s fourth birthday (Sam is around by now, but is not in this picture!) Cassie is wearing a dress that was truly one of my favourites, out of all that I had made for her! It was of a lovely floral brushed cotton in very pretty shades of blue, green and violet, and had a sailor collar of soft ivory brushed cotton, around which I topstitched on a pale blue satin ribbon edging to enhance the sailor-y look. I loved seeing her in this dress…. she looks so pretty, doesn’t she?
Below; I am with Tim and a fairly brand new Sam in a baby sling… Tim is wearing a red-and-white fair isle jumper knitted by my Mum, and I am wearing a blue, turquoise, red and pink cardigan with black and white geckoes that I knitted from a pattern, the details of which are unknown, sorry. It is knitted entirely in the intarsia method, with each section of colour in each row, in individual balls (ie, that is 15 different balls for some rows…), and is possibly the most complex thing I have ever knitted. Each row of the pattern was different from each other row, as you can imagine. Even the two sleeves were different from each other! The main of the knitting is in stocking stitch, but the red and pink sections are in reverse stocking stitch… my modern-day me is actually pretty impressed with my olden-day more-patient me.
I am embarrassed to admit that I went on to lose all appreciation of my own time and effort, and painted the entire interior of a house while wearing this thing, which explains some tiny spots of white paint now adorning the front. Also it has gone camping with us (and I recall wearing it 24/7 including sleeping in it on one particularly cold camping trip) and it has been a bed-jacket too. I still have it, but needless to say don’t really wear it anymore. It has slightly felted, through bad washing.
(Later edit; in reply to some comments, it’s a bit hazy in my memory now but I’m pretty sure I made this before I had little kiddies underfoot… just no pictures!)
That cardigan is incredible. I lose the plot with two colour stranded knitting. I'm speechless.
Wow Carolyn that jumper is amazing. A real sign of the times but really a work of art too. I can't knit at all (crochet is my thing – but haven't done it for years). I just want to say you look about 12 in those photos with your three young kids!
That cardigan is so cute! Love the sailor dress you made for your DD.
About your question on where to find the fabric for that Pattern on my blog. I too would like to know the answer to that one! My first thought when I saw that pattern was awesome. My second, where do you get fabric like that? If I should discover the answer I will let you know.
I'm sure that your family loves and appreciates you, BUT it is not enough girl, you are incredible. I know what you mean by the now me, being impressed by the previous me, I see things in my quilting that are that way too……….but goodness gracious that sweater is amazing. Thank you for all of your encouragement as well, it speaks to the authenticity of your greatness. Can't wait to see your self stitched September posts and never fear your things are NOT boring at all!
Jaw-dropping awesome cardigan! I love what one can do with intarsia, but I've been do chicken to try it up 'til now. One day. That must have taken you forever!
Ditto on what everyone said about the cardigan and don't get rid of it. Your granddaught or great granddaught will be inspired by it someday.
I still can't get over how you look *so* young (and maybe you were) when you started your family.
That cardigan is a masterpiece. Wow. I hope you've put a label in there!!!
Dang! The sweater is amazing!! I really like Cassie's little outfit (probably partly a reflection on the fact that I DON'T have a little girl to dress up!).
Okay, so can you do a post sometime on how you were so productive sewing and knitting when your kiddos were young – I mean, 3 under age 4 and you are knitting complicated sweaters? Even with one I had to put my knitting away for a couple of years, and there wasn't a ton of sewing either. Granted, I had health issues for a couple of years that affected every area of life, but would still like to know your secret!
That cardigan is a total work of art….I would keep it to remind yourself in 20 years what you were feeling now! This was a lovely post of your family & creations in time!
If you're never going to wear the cardigan again, you might consider framing it as-is against a deep blue or black background, or incorporating it into a fabric wall-hanging. It's too pretty to be hidden away in a drawer or trunk.
That cardigan is amazing, but I also love the clothes you made for your kids! 🙂
I love your documentation of years gone by. And you're so right to do this. Every so often I come across a snippet of fabric from some project of long ago and think of how much time I have spent creating things that have vanished into thin air.
I can't believe how young you and your husband looked…I guess if we go back we all do.
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I love the cardigan, it reminds me of an oversized jumper I used to wear when I first started dating my husband, way back when. Funny, I wouldn't dream of making anything quite that complicated either now. I have to say though, it would make a stunning cushion cover. All of those colours are coming back in for both clothing and decor!
You have made some amazing garments. I love Cassie's pretty dresses and your incredible knitting.
Oh my gosh, the Bettlejuice reference had me cracking up! I so remember that dress that the actress wore throughout the entire film (since she was a ghost and had died in that dress).
I love the intarsia cardigan. It is amazing!
I am in awe of the gecko sweater.
I made countless versions of the floral Beetlejuice dress, and then later went through a mismatchy black and white phase like the mom's costumes in the film. Funny how movies influence our fashion! That cardigan is simply amazing.