so i was talking on sunday about how Em likes most of the things I sew for her…as long as they’re dresses (thanks for commiserating with me, by the way)! and remember how she needs to start wearing a uniform to school, so i need her to wear more than just dresses? well, this was my test to see if i could get her at least wearing skirts again.
looks like she likes it, right? it’s got an elephant (her favorite animal), it’s got pink (her favorite color), it’s got sparkly silver thread, it’s comfy…gotta be a winner…right?
wrong.
she doesn’t like it…because it’s a skirt.
this darn thing has been sitting waiting for a photoshoot for THREE WEEKS and she hasn’t wanted to put it on. i finally bribed her to wear it for these photos. i mean…seriously?
this was my inspiration, an adorable print called jumbo bubble by terry fam, which i spotted and immediately bought for her revamped bedroom. i appliquéd my design onto the kona snow skirt (loosely following the lazy days skirt tutorial with no ribbon hem). instead of having the elephant blowing the bubble like gum, i cut out a pink balloon and used metallic silver thread as the string. i thought it’d be a winner, the skirt to get her wearing skirts again, but i was wrong…for now anyway. she’ll probably insist on wearing it the minute it’s too small.
four year olds. opinionated little things.
anyway, here’s a slightly wider shot of her new pink bedroom walls. she likes those! once i make a new quilt for her bed, i’ll do a full room tour. honestly i didn’t expect to like the pink as much as i do; i’ve been dodging her requests for so long. but heck, it’s just paint and she really loves it, so i just needed to let go and embrace it.
the poor kid doesn’t realize the sea of navy blue, white, and khaki she’s about to plunge into come school-time, so at least she has her pink retreat at home! and if the skirt ends up getting gifted to a younger friend/cousin later, that’s fine with me!
skirt as top 
what an adorable skirt! That applique is so stinkin’ cute, and love the nice wide waistband (pet peeve is thin, flimsy elastic waists). At least you got a fun photo shoot from it and pictures to prove she wore it at least once:) Maybe she’ll change her mind after she gets tired of all the uniform colors?:)
I think (hope) you’re right! I like wide waistbands too. 🙂
I simply adore this skirt Kristin. So in love with it!!! It is just perfection at its simplest form. So lovely. Thank you for sharing!!!
oh thank YOU jessica!
I have a 5 year old little Miss who is very into pink and prettiness as well. Next Tuesday she will start wearing a navy, white and chambray blue uniform to school! I’m hoping that since she will match her big brother and still have pretty things in her long curly hair she will be happy. Let us know how it goes with Em. 🙂
Meredith (across the river from you in Camas)
Hello neighbor! Yes we have an open house at school tomorrow and they’re going to have a “uniform fashion show.” My only hope is that peer pressure works on her and she’ll want to dress like the big girls!
that skirt is the cutest thing EVER! yeah, sometimes you just have to make things and then let it go that they have their own crazy tastes…like lucinda said, you got some great photos and she had it on once, i call that a victory! or maybe you could sew her shirt to it to make it into a dress, ha ha! 🙂
oh now THAT’s a good idea! wonder if she’d fall for it????
Ooooh, this is so cute! You should seriously ground your daughter for not wanting to wear such an adorable skirt ;-p
HAHA! i should.
I am all too familiar with opinionated little girls who only want to wear what they deem worthy. Fortunately, I won’t be fighting a battle over school uniforms this year!! (good luck with that!) As for the skirt, it is both inspired and adorable! I love it!
kristin, this is so cute i actually gasped a little when i looked at it. my 3 1/2 year old loves skirts and dresses so much she wears them together. lately – always. a skirt under a dress. which i don’t appreciate at all since i already have enough laundry to do.
i just showed the skirt to my daughter, evie and she said that it’s “pretty” but she was very concerned about “where is her head?” haha. three year olds are so funny!
Your skirt is so cute! I can’t believe she doesn’t like it…..I would wear it! Kids. Such stinkers.
That is so adorable, I hope she changes her mind. My two will mostly wear what I sew them at the moment. C is going through a phase where he prefers to go without underwear though, which means he doesn’t want to wear trousers or shorts with zips in. Also he insists on wearing socks with sandals, which looks awful.
Oh no! I think it’s darling!
oh! What a perfect skirt, too. So simple, so sweet, so lovely, and SHOULD be so Em!! Can’t wait to hear about her reaction to wearing a uniform, hehe.
That skirt is adorable. I love the elephant and the balloon, but also having a 4 year old myself I know how fussy they can be.
That skirt is seriously too cute. And I love that shade of pink on her wall.
so cute!! can’t believe she doesn’t like it. too bad it is not my size!
I’m inspired now to make my own elephant skirt for my 7 year old. We checked out a book from the library once called “The Girl and The Elephant.” It’s a really sweet story about a little girl who befriends an elephant at the zoo. The elephant is sent home to Africa, so the girl sends a bird to check on her friend before eventually traveling to Africa herself. The pictures are gentle and the cover would be perfect for a similar skirt. The elephant is blowing leaves, instead of a bubble. A perfect fall skirt. Thanks for the inspiration!
Cute kid, cute skirt, cute pink room. I’ve been wanting to stick an elephant on something. Love it with the balloon!! Good luck with the uniforms – sometimes, I think it would be easier to do the uniform thing than to deal with fussy dressers so early in the morning, but who knows??
This is super darling! I love it!
Firstly, it is super cute..I love it. I also have an idea….my youngest loves pockets, even if they are dinky, tiny, ‘won’t carry much more than a small pebble’ type pocket….maybe you could add an oversized ear to the head that is open at the top to act as a small pocket perfect for little fingers to pop crazy tiny things in that they find in the yard….just an idea!
Ah! How could she not love this!? She’ll come around, I know it. That applique is perfection.
I just found this pattern on the web for an elephant soft toy and for some reason the first thing I thought of was your skirt! I thought Em might love one. Shes selling them to help raise funds for Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital, who help kids from all over the world.
http://kitchentablesewing.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/wilmas-story.html
Now if only I could figure out how to make her hold a balloon! That would be adorable!
Oh thank you! Very cute. And yes, a softie holding a balloon would be SO SWEET!