FROM WHEN WE WERE YOUNG TO PROJECT RUN & PLAY AND KIDS CLOTHES WEEK

Hoje trago de volta a casa o vestido que fiz para a série "When We Were Young" organizada pela Suz do blog Sew Pony.
Este vestido enquadra-se na perfeição no tema desta semana do concurso Project Run and Play: Design your own Fabric; e também no tema da edição de Primavera da série Kids Clothes Week: Mini Me; por isso não podia deixar passar esta oportunidade...

Today I am bringing back home the dress I made for Sew Pony's wonderful series "When We Were Young".
You know why? Not only because I actually am very proud of my creation - it took me ages to make those bodice stripes... - but also because this dress fits to perfection this week's Project Run and Play theme: Design your own Fabric; and Kids Clothes Week spring edition theme too: Mini Me.
I could not miss this opportunity, could I?! 

Hi! I’m Marta from DoGuincho and I’m thrilled to be at Sew Pony sharing with you my “When We Were Young” project! Thank you Suz!

 Where were you born/where did you spend your childhood?
I was born in Lisbon, Portugal.  I spent my childhood in Miraflores, a suburb of Lisbon.

Who did you grow up with?
I grew up with my parents and my younger sister Ana.  

Did you have a childhood ambition?
When I was a child, I don’t think I had any of those crazy typical ambitions… I think I only wanted to be a “maker” and maybe that’s way I became an architect and then a seamstress.

What did you like doing when you were little?
I liked making things more than playing with dolls or other toys. And I loved being outside riding my bike with my friends!

Do you see any similarities between yourself and your child/children?
I definitely do! Teresa and Ines are really crafty. Teresa is only 5 (almost 6, actually) and she already knows and likes to make embroideries!

Do you live far from where you grew up?
No, it’s a short car ride from my parents home to where I live now .

Where do you live now and who with?
I live near Cascais, a nice fishing village just outside Lisbon, with my husband and our two daughters: Teresa and Ines.

When Suz invited me to be part of this amazing series I thought it would be super easy to chose and remake one of my childhood dresses. I couldn’t imagine how wrong I was!

My mother was great at keeping my dresses (my daughters wear lovely vintage dresses all the time) but not so great at taking photos with me actually wearing them!
Looking over my old photo albums, all I could find were fancy smoked party dresses or terrible every day clothes that I didn’t felt like remaking!
Then I came across this red and white knitted dress my mother made me...

(Here I am with my uncle, how was also my godfather)

My mother doesn’t like to sew (back in the 70’ we had a professional seamstress coming to our home once a month to sew our clothes) but she loves to knit. Since I don’t like knitting, I thought it would be nice to remake my old dress using fabric.

 I picked some plain red fabric from my local store and decided to make the stripes with white cotton ribbon. This way I could chose where I wanted the stripes to be and, at the same time, have a more textured look. For Teresa’s dress I’ve sewn 12 meters of ribbon! Can you believe it?!

As for the pattern, I´ve used Carla C’s Precious Dress. I loved the pattern and its clear and accurate instructions. (Thank you for the help, Ana Sofia!)
I’ve made two major changes for the dress to fit nicely Teresa, how is a lot older then I was when I wore the original dress. I’ve made a longer body and added a big sash at the back. But I was able to keep all the stripes!
Teresa loved her new dress! Hope you like it too!