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From: smith972
Date: 06-04-2006, 03:26 PM (1 of 11)
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When sewing for little girls that have bellies...my 7 year old has one and every dress i have ever made for just does not look right with her belly sticking out.... So i am looking for some good suggestions for summer dress for this type of figure. Jada |
User: smith972
Member since: 09-10-2004 Total posts: 241 
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From: Mom of Six
Date: 06-04-2006, 08:38 PM (2 of 11)
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Go with an empire waist or a lot of gathers. I had 2 DDs who had the same problem. They are 14 & 22 now & still have some of it but not as bad. I don't sew much for them any more enjoy it while you can. My niece is 8 & has the same problem but she won't wear dresses she likes skirts & tops & they don't flatter her at all.
Barb
Happiness is having time to sew!! |
User: Mom of Six
Member since: 11-03-2001 Total posts: 1115 
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From: esrun3
Date: 06-04-2006, 08:47 PM (3 of 11)
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Barb, that's exactly what I was going to suggest, or shorts with a longer, fuller top that covers. My daughter is 24 and only just now letting me sew for her again-think it's the having to support yourself and not use your paycheck just for clothing syndrome! LOL
Lyn
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User: esrun3
Member since: 12-02-2004 Total posts: 2345 |
From: blackie
Date: 06-06-2006, 02:38 AM (4 of 11)
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Or maybe we can just compliment these young ladies for knowing what they like, instead of telling them to wear what "flatters" them! (ducks head to avoid wrath) Anyway- I have an ottobre 4/2003 that has a really cute empire-waist top, and a long, semifitted skirt with a knee-flounce. Very nice-looking on anyone: http://www.ottobredesign.com/lehdet_js/2003_4/sivut/4.jpg Bless you Mamas who sew for your girls. I only wish my daughter liked dresses. Everything is "dinosaur this, insect that". I can make her a dress if there's something gross / toothy / creepy-crawly on the print. see the mundane life of a housewife.
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User: blackie
Member since: 03-31-2004 Total posts: 594 |
From: esrun3
Date: 06-06-2006, 10:17 PM (5 of 11)
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cute pattern Blackie. and you have a point, let them wear what they like as long as they don't look horrendous and even then it really only matters in public-if then. LOL Your daughter sounds like a pistol! My dgd went through that stage, she just wanted bugs or butterflies and preferred pants. Now she's turning 3 and wants nothing but horses and wants stuff she can "go fishing" in-not those "stupid dresses". I still make her a dress once in awhile. LOL Lyn
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User: esrun3
Member since: 12-02-2004 Total posts: 2345 |
From: smith972
Date: 06-08-2006, 01:16 PM (6 of 11)
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Thanks so much for the ideas...my girl is a girly girl all the way and really has not had any request for specific dresses, other than one frilly one she saw and liked, she just wants dresses. She did pick out her fabric for her summer wardrobe and with your ideas i think i maybe able to pull this off. I have already done several pairs of capri pants for her and some tank tops, i just have one week to finish 3-4 dresses for her...then she is off to grandma and grandpa in upstate New York for the summer. Jada |
User: smith972
Member since: 09-10-2004 Total posts: 241
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From: LauraM62
Date: 06-08-2006, 07:00 PM (7 of 11)
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I sew for a daughter with a belly also, she is 6. The empire waist dresses help allot. Also flared dresses work wonders. Another food for thought depending on the size of the tummy. I have measured my dd in several locations, I know her waist measurement, and her tummy measurement, I know her tummy starts approx 2 inches below the waist. I know the front portion of that measurement & the back half too for the total circumferance, ie since she does have a tummy the front is larger then the back. This allows me to alter dress & top patterns for her tummy, I do a slash & spread vertically spread it just enough to give her that room over the tummy she needs keeping the ease level of the pattern, I do it on the front piece only. Once I have adjusted the front pattern pieces it flows over the tummy, looks great in more fashions. I also lengthen many tops, keep measurements for that too!
LauraM
SW Indiana If everyone cared and nobody cried; If everyone loved and nobody lied; If everyone shared and swallowed their pride; Then we'd see the day when nobody died --'If Everyone Cared' by Nickelback |
User: LauraM62
Member since: 08-10-2003 Total posts: 246 
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From: pfaffshirl
Date: 06-10-2006, 06:38 PM (8 of 11)
| My gd is 8 and chunky with a tummy - I make her raised waist dresses with gathered skirts - so far she's been happy with them. Simplicity has some plus sized patterns that work well for tops too - # 4162 and 4295 have worked well since they are gathered. Good luck! |
User: pfaffshirl
Member since: 03-08-2003 Total posts: 6 |
From: Sancin
Date: 06-10-2006, 08:58 PM (9 of 11)
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This is interesting - I am an oldster with a tummy. When I had my son, first child, where I lived overlooked a path to a primary school. I was horrified watching all the little girls going to school in pants, as I longed to make frilly girly things. But then again I was also horrified when I taught my first university class and a student arrived in shorts! Latterly they came in pj bottoms! Go figure. It took me awhile to realize they weren't insulting me, such was my mindset in the late 60's. Then I had a daughter and we moved north and it was cool sitting and playing. As an infant and toddler I dressed her in pants and left over romper tops. Once she started playschool, for a very quiet shy child, she became quite assertive about what she would wear - no dresses. The boys could see her panties! So she only wore dresses on very special occasions like piano recitals and Christmas and then the dresses had to be long. As she grew she not only developed her own style but her own colour sense, which is absolutely foreign to me. Though as a teen she managed to enjoy a lot of my fine wool work sweaters. I did make several prom dresses for her which I was disappointed in- her grad dress was navy blue and very short - how I longed to make an antebellum type of dress but it was a designer pattern. She is now going to have a little boy so still no dresses for me to sew. How I envy you all. On the other hand I really enjoy sitting in shopping malls watching all the young ladies go by in their own gear. I wish some of the teens would try be be themselves and not clones, but the unique ones tend to be alone. I really admire the ones who walk and dress comfortably in the world regardless of what others think or even if it is unattractive. 
*~*~*~* Nancy*~*~*~* " I try to take one day at a time - but sometimes several days attack me at once."
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User: Sancin
Member since: 02-13-2005 Total posts: 895 
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From: blackie
Date: 06-10-2006, 11:29 PM (10 of 11)
Hopefully you will get yourself a grandchild who wants some frou-frou!  I wish some of the teens would try be be themselves and not clones, but the unique ones tend to be alone. I really admire the ones who walk and dress comfortably in the world regardless of what others think or even if it is unattractive. I know what you mean. In recent years I notice girls have been baring their midriffs more and sometimes that includes tummy pudge. I have heard people insinuate some of these girls are "too chubby" to let their tummies show. While I'm not sure how I feel about skimpily-dressed teens (especially in the winter!) I do remember that back when I was in high school (11 years ago) only the anoerexically-thin girls were "allowed" to show their tummies. Maybe the rules have changed to include curves - and if so, great. I'd love to think today's teen girls are more body-confident than girls were when I was a teenager. I still notice with adult women they tend to put-down their bodies. Even on this board, women describe their figures as if they were full of problems, rather than being unique like everyone else (terms like "sway back", "narrow shoulders", "short arms" always sound like imperfections). It's as if the pattern in the envelope (modeled after an "average" standard) is perfect and WE are the problem. Why not say "I have to change patterns to fit my proportionally small waist (instead of "big butt") and my cute boobs"! 
see the mundane life of a housewife.
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User: blackie
Member since: 03-31-2004 Total posts: 594 |
From: LauraM62
Date: 06-11-2006, 07:00 AM (11 of 11)
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My gd is 8 and chunky with a tummy - I make her raised waist dresses with gathered skirts - so far she's been happy with them. Simplicity has some plus sized patterns that work well for tops too - # 4162 and 4295 have worked well since they are gathered. Good luck! Actually in this house we LOVE the Simplicity Plus size Lizzie & Raven lines! My dd likes many of the styles, very fashionable, and so far I have really like the patterns as they fit very good out of the package with so few fit alterations for her! LauraM
SW Indiana If everyone cared and nobody cried; If everyone loved and nobody lied; If everyone shared and swallowed their pride; Then we'd see the day when nobody died --'If Everyone Cared' by Nickelback |
User: LauraM62
Member since: 08-10-2003 Total posts: 246
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