Please forgive me but I have not been posting for awhile, work has been long and exhausting. My daughter and her in-laws went to the zoo and I had to go to work and miss another fun day in the lives of my littles’. Waaaahhhhhh I want to be a stay at home Mimi. Oh well, hubby and I will try to get them to the Boo Zoo in October, the Zoo will be decorated for Halloween and it just has this wonderful ambiance of the fall. In the mean time I get to enjoy the pictures that my daughter sends me. I might not have been there but I got to make their zoo dresses!

I had gone to the thrift store and their was this fabric with all the zoo animals on it (it could of been a sheet, just not sure) and another fabric that was green with little yellow polka-dots. I bought both fabrics for under $5.00 and made 2 of the most precious zoo dresses that any little girl could own!

I added an apron on both of their dresses and embroidered on them. The older one has the song on her apron about “green alligators and long neck geese.” The younger one has the poem on hers about the “Animal Fair.” I love aprons, but not just any old apron will do for my 2 littles! I think my love for aprons comes from having such fond memories of my own Grandma, whom by the way wore aprons!

The older one’s dress pattern was from McCalls 6387 and the younger one came from Simplicity 9784. On the Simplicity pattern the buttons and the opening for dress removal are in the front, I changed that to the back because the fabric had an elephant that I wanted to show on the front of the bodice. I also added the ruffle to the bottom of the dress.

This is the back of M6387, the pattern is just a simple knot dress. A perfect dress for a beginner to start sewing. I buy all my patterns at Jo-Anne fabric when they run a sale on patterns. I can’t justify spending a lot of money on patterns that I might only use once or twice. There are a lot of patterns on Etsy that I love but they just doesn’t fit into the budget. Maybe someday I’ll break down and buy one of the PDF  patterns that I have been drooling over.

Doesn’t it look just wonderful to be young again and not have a care in the world, to laugh with such abandonment at the simplest of fun? 

To see things through the eyes of a child that we as adults take for granted.

Last but not least is a picture of our little guy, Julian, my goodness it just makes my heart swell to see these littles, happy and healthy. My daughter and son-in-law are such good parents but they have also allowed the “village” (extended family) to be a major part of their children’s lives. One day when I am 103 I could only hope my Littles’ remember me with the same fondness that I have of my own sweet Grandma!