Antique Dress-Up

The other day, I came down to find Elena wearing a dress that my grandma had made for me when I was three or four. She had it on in, um, her own style as only Elena can do.





Then, in preparation for Easter, we pulled out some of the family smocked dresses and tried them on for Easter. Elena fits in about four of them at present. Here she is now and in the dresses in the past...I even found one of her aunt wearing one of the dresses!

Elena at one in a dress:


Elena at two in a yellow one:


Elena yesterday:




Aunties in dresses:




I just love these dresses and I have so much fun imagining my great grandmother (the original Grammy) making and hand smocking these dresses. I picture them sitting in a fancy living room, rich, Easter-egg colored fabrics draped around, cutting out little-girl shapes and hand stitching them together. What conversations might they have had while they sewed? Was it a "stitch and bitch" session about husbands who irritate and annoying housework? Were they in quiet reverie? I long to be there for just a moment, to peek into the past. But alas, I am relegated to fingering the soft, aged cotton and imagining.