Inspired By Matilda Jane

A Matilda Jane knot dress is the first thing that inspired me to sew clothing for my children. I routinely browse the Matilda Jane website to get ideas and inspiration for fabric color combinations and construction ideas. I've made quite a few knot dresses over the years. This one has the new "detachable apron" concept. There are three orange buttons sewn onto the bodice and the apron can be removed and worn over jeans, etc and the dress can go it alone w/o the apron. I LOVE the Anna Maria Horner Loulouthi fabric that makes up the skirt of this dress.


And I am indebted to MJ for the concept of ruffle pants. This past summer I made the girls at least 6 pairs of ruffle shorts. I loved being able to make them shorts from comfortable jersey material, in colors they like and with a cute little ruffle and best of all, I could custom fit the length. I don't want my daughters running around in short shorts at such a young age. Hopefully they will let me make them long shorts through their teenage years ;) 

 This skirt is a copy of the Jesse skirt by Matilda Jane. I made mine using quilting cotton as the trim on the ruffles, which are made from nylon chiffon (same material used in petti-skirts). Each section of trim is 14 feet long. Yes, you read that correctly, 14 feet long. And I sewed a rolled edge on both the top and the bottom to prevent unraveling. That, plus the gathering took some time. But this skirt is a show stopper. It is the twirly-est thing I have ever made in my life and my oldest can spin in this thing until she falls over. It reminds me of playing dress up with my great aunt's square dancing skirts.