When my cousin asked my daughters to be flower girls in her wedding, we excitedly agreed! The couple was engaged for nearly 18 months so I waited to make the dresses because I knew the girls would grow a lot in that amount of time. It seems that Ellie is stretching out of her clothes these days nearly as fast as she did when she was a toddler. So, a couple of months ago, I settled on a pattern and ordered the fabric.

Because I had some other obligations to fill, I knew that I wouldn’t start the sewing for the wedding until May, but the weekend that I was planning to cut everything out, the girls got a virus (no, I don’t know which one—home tests were negative—but they are still coughing 3 weeks later).

Their illness put me even further behind schedule, but amazingly, I got the dresses, pinafores and baskets ready before the wedding, even if I was up late the night before the wedding finishing Ellie’s pinafore and sewing buttons on the dresses.

For the pattern, I chose the Folkwear 213 Child’s Prairie Dress and Pinafore. I decided to make my own pinafore patterns, and I modified the dress pattern (no collar, short sleeves, etc.) to make it work for a summer dress.

I made a practice dress for Emma earlier in May to familiarize myself with the pattern and make sure that the size would be correct. I planned to make one for Ellie, but I ran out of time. I was nervous as I cut out her pattern with the wedding fabric, but I knew that I had to just dive right into her flower girl dress because getting it finished in time was the highest priority.

Also, as long as the fit was okay around the neck and shoulders and the length was adequate, the dress would be fine—I didn’t have to worry about waistline fit or any other measurements. I was so nervous about finishing on time that I nearly took a shortcut with the hems by serging them with a rolled hem edge, but my friend, Mary, advised me to take the time to hand-sew the hems as I had been taught to do when I was learning to sew.

Once I had finished the dresses, I started on the pinafore patterns. I used a cotton slip for Emma’s pinafore pattern, and a sleeveless dress for Ellie’s pattern. I am pleased with the way that Emma’s turned out (middle photo), and I plan to make her enough pinafores to wear every day as aprons to keep her clothing clean. I plan to modify Ellie’s pattern a bit before I make more for her, but I plan to make these a standard part of her wardrobe as well.

After Emma’s bath on the day of the wedding rehearsal, I allowed her to fit on her dress with the pinafore for the first time. She was so happy! I told her to step outside so that I could take photos in better light, and she started twirling and curtseying. I captured a video that you can find on my Instagram account. As you can see, I still had not sewn on any buttons so I fastened the neckline with a safety pin.

The big day arrived, and although braiding their hair in a practice run had gone fine earlier in the week, it was rather stressful the morning of the wedding and didn’t turn out as well. The practice run photos are shown here:

We arrived at the wedding, where I quickly changed the girls into their dresses because I didn’t want to risk something happening to the clothing on the way there. It felt strange to go find a seat without the girls as they were hanging out with the wedding party. While we were waiting for the wedding to start, I captured this candid moment of my husband talking to my Grandmother. My biggest regret of the day is not getting photos of the girls and myself with her!

It was delightful to see the girls walking down the “aisle” (the wedding was held in the horse pasture at the bride’s home) with such happy smiles on their faces.

The girls walking down the aisle with the bride’s great-aunt and father in the background.

I quickly snapped this picture as the girls walked past our seats.

The bride had requested that the girls use fabric baskets that I make for the flower petals. I didn’t have time to make new ones so I sewed braided handles onto baskets that I had already made.

After the wedding, I took a photo of the girls with the bride and groom.

Then I asked my brother to take a picture of my husband and me with the girls. We hadn’t had a family photo taken since Ellie’s fourth birthday party 3 1/2 years ago! Although this isn’t a professional or formal photo, I am delighted that we have this photo of the four of us together.

I wasn’t sure whether the fabric for the girls dresses was exactly what the bride had in mind because she told me to choose sea foam or navy, saying that she didn’t care how I made them or what the fabric was. She just wanted the girls to feel pretty.

When we got to the reception, I noticed that the runner under the flowers matched their dresses! I forgot to ask the bride whether that was intentional. The flowers were provided by the bride’s employer Harmony Harvest Farm. As a thank-you gift to the girls, we were told to bring home two bouquets from the table plus two special arrangements that Kelsie (the bride) had made specially for the girls. We all love flowers so that was the perfect gift!

We stayed around long enough to send off the happy married couple, with a “blessing” of bubbles.

I pray for a life-long, happy marriage for these two. It makes me feel old to see my cousin, who is young enough to be my daughter even though she is in her twenties, enter this stage of life. I wish them a blessed life together. Congratulations, Kelsie and Marcus! And thanks for letting the girls have a special part in your wedding.

Flower Girls in Prairie Dresses and Pinafores