Clothes for Tiny People

It's funny.  I don't have kids, will never have kids, and I don't have that many friends with little ones, but I love making clothes for tiny people.

Maybe it's just a carryover from my childhood of constant Barbie couture?

The other great thing about kids' clothes - when they're small enough, they can't express opinions and you get to dress them any way you want.  And in my opinion, that means with basically every color in the crayon box.

These toddler dresses, which are all up in the shop right now, are proof of my love of color, and my inability (at least most of the time) to only use one fabric at once.

The only dress that escaped multi-fabric is the green geometric floral, which has rickrack the width of baby fingers, so I didn't think it required anything extra.  I love jumbo rickrack, and I got this from my great-aunt's notion stash.  There's still more of it, so expect to see it again.

I think my personal favorite of these is the third dress.  I love orange, and after a long and dreary winter, those bright citrus colors make me happy.

If there'd been enough fabric, I'd have something similar to that dress in my size, but alas, that's not going to happen.

The citrus stripe fabric was a thrift store find, a plus size sundress that has since become three toddler pieces.  The solid orange was originally a man's shirt.  The red floral was from a fat quarter pack brought back from a co-worker's trip to Hawaii.

The first dress above was constructed from corduroy remnants that I picked up at a flea market.  The buttons were from a 1980s jacket.

The blue and yellow floral below was from a skirt of mine that I'd long since outgrown - both size and age-wise.  The cutesy-country look doesn't suit someone well into her 40s.  At least not me.  It looks much better this way.

The green geometric floral, I have to admit, is made from the remnants of my favorite winter pajamas.  It's a cuddly but fairly lightweight flannel.

Where someone else sees throwaway clothes or scrap fabric, I see something else entirely.  It's both a blessing and a curse - you should see the bags and boxes in my workroom, all awaiting their turn at transformation.