I Had a Favorite Dress by Boni Ashburn, pictures by Julia Denos.
Doesn’t everyone wish they could sew? Some people can. And those people are perfect for kids’ constantly outgrown wardrobes.
In Boni Ashburn‘s delightful book a girl outgrows her favorite dress. But not to worry. Her DIY mom transforms it into a ruffly shirt instead. Snip, snip, sew, sew, new shirt, hello! Problem solved.
Until girl outgrows shirt. Not to worry. Mom continues making that dress into new things: shirt to tank, tank to skirt, skirt to scarf, and so on.
And Julia Denos‘s illustrations? They’re a perfect match. Full of whimsy and creativity and fun. (I loved Denos’s work that was so suited to Just Being Audrey as well.)
Thanks to Abrams for the images.
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I desperately wanted to do something DIY in the spirit of this book. Only I’m one of those people who doesn’t sew. Or have kids. So I turned to friends who are pros.
That’s where 10 year old twins, Nola and Ziggy come in. Nola’s outgrown a dress she wore for a wedding and Ziggy’s pants and button down no longer fit. Â All of it’s cute but now simply too small.
Here the clothes are BEFORE, a bit forlorn, just longing to become something wearable again.
That’s where uber talented Los Angeles-based designer, Jill Aiko Yee comes in.  Jill has a signature aesthetic, creating a “uniform for creative women” that’s functional and stylish at the same time. (And I’m the proud owner of this entire outfit.)
Photo by Jesper Norgaard.
Jill snip, snipped, sew, sewed Nola and Ziggy’s outgrown items into these…
Festive, ruffly, contrast top, hello!
And fashion-forward cropped pants, hello!
Not only are Nola and Ziggy  stylish, spunky, and adorable, they’re loads of fun too. Let’s just say there was a What Does the Fox Say? dance party during a good chunk of this photo shoot.
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Even Romy the dog got a temporary new outfit made from Ziggy’s too small shirt! Recognize that checkered pattern?
Huge thanks to Ziggy and Nola and their talented parents, Dane and Israel. Also thanks to generous designer, Jill Yee.
This post makes me happy and I hope it makes you happy too!
That was lots of fun!! Thanks for sharing it all!
hi this is ziggy the person in the pic.I really like the pics they put in and it was a lot of fun doing this project.
Ziggy, I’m so glad you like how it turned out! It WAS fun. Thanks to you!
HI this Nola. Thank you so very much it was so wonderful PLUS fun. I’m up for next time we do something about it .- nola
Ziggy and Nola, you look AWESOME! Great post, Danielle!
Don’t they?! Thanks, Lauren!
Nola, Thank YOU for doing this project and shining so brightly in it. If I can’t think of another blog post for you two, we’ll just have to go rollerskating instead. 🙂
danielle! what a crazy cool post – sweet collaboration-ness! xo
Thanks, Lyndsay! This is my favorite kind of thing!
Very cool idea! Usually my mom took fun fabrics and sewed them onto the bottom of my pants when I grew…I was born in the 90s; it was the early 2000s and cool (thankfully!) but I love this idea of completely repurposing.
That is so great! And timeless in its own way. 🙂
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