The trouble with the truth

The facts, while interesting, are irrelevant.

The truth is what you make it.

And the truth is going to be that this gown fit wonderfully and she wore it all summer!

You already know that I enjoy browsing Sew, Mama, Sew's blog for inspiration. More than a year ago, I saw this adorable pillowcase-to-nightgown idea. I remembered buying an embroidered case at a local consignment shop with the intention of using it as a sweet dress for one of the girls.  I tabled the project while we traveled to New Orleans and visited family.

During our stay at my parent's home, I rummaged through my mother's linen closet and found a set of pillowcases embroidered with kitty cats. Since the pillowcases had been buried in the closet (I'd lived in that house for years and hadn't ever seen them), I asked my mother if I could take them home and use them for the nightgown project. I'd asked this while Nana was tending to dinner and surrounded by children, so she agreed without really looking. (Note to self, always do the asking when the person being questioned is otherwise occupied).

I didn't get to make the gowns last summer, but finally pulled them out a few weeks ago. For the first one, I followed the pattern for a size 2/3 .  I should have considered the fact that Irish Jig is tall and stocky.

While I can get her into the gown, there's just not enough ease around the chest for it to be comfortable and I'm afraid she'll rip the seams apart when putting it on or taking it off. That said, it's so dang adorable!

Of course, I kept having her tell me what kind of animals these were (see #2 in this post)

I called my mother to tell her the woebegone tale of the gown and she regaled me with the back story on the kitten pillow cases. She told me that she'd embroidered them when she was about 8. Because her mother worked an evening shift at the local hospital, she'd spend the after school hours at her father's auto repair shop/ gas station. She has wonderful memories of sitting on a stool stitching and talking to her father while he worked.

Knowing the dress didn't fit, I felt horrible! Neither of the girls would wear this one. Oh, sure, I can make the matching case into a larger size gown, but this one goes immediately into the Vintage Collection.

Or does it? The truth is what we make it, remember? The fact that the dress doesn't really fit is irrelevant. I took a slew of pictures to put into the family album. Years from now, her reality will be only the stories she'd heard about her wearing the gown made from Nana's sweet childhood stitches.

And that's the rest of the story.