The Things We Make For Our Children

For the past two months I've been telling my youngest that when I get done with school, I'm going to make her a cat dress because if there's one thing that can actually get this kid to smile, it's a cat.  And because I'm a total sucker for this kiddo, I'm usually pretty happy to indulge her cat obsession...which has led to her having cat shoes, cat tattoos, and now a cat dress.    She may be only three, but she's definitely on her way to crazy cat-lady status.

But let's talk about this dress.  You know, the one made out of what is possibly the world's ugliest fabric.  You see, when I told C that I would make her a cat dress I imagined a little less literal of an interpretation.  In fact, I found a darling little fabric at the store with cat prints on it and I spent a good five minutes trying to talk her into that fabric and when she wouldn't give I roped Ben into trying to talk her into that fabric as well.  It turns out that you can't talk C into anything  (including smiling for these pictures).

When she gets an idea of what she wants, there's no getting that idea out of her head.  (I wonder who she gets that from?  Ha!)  So a dress covered in cats it was!  Actually it was kind of fun to pick out which cat would have a starring role on the front of the dress (I let O have the honor of picking out that cat).  And, if I'm being honest, I kind of love the way this crazy looking dress came out.  It really captures a moment in time in C's childhood and I can't really ask for more than that.

Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't add that this dress (once again) is made from the Hanami Pattern.  I made her a straight size 3 although based on seeing some other gorgeous Hanamis around the internet I chopped about 3/4 of an inch off of the length of the bodice and I also added some width to the skirt.  I decided to go with some flutter sleeves this time around and I have to say that I'd forgotten how cute flutter sleeves are on a little girl's dress.  And, of course, I had to throw in a little piping around the waist because it turns out that there's no overdoing it when you're wearing a dress covered in cats.

Meow!