For more than a year I’ve frequently heard Beatrix crying out, “Nurse Naaaaaancy. I need a baaaaaand aid!” Beatrix loves to be the patient, and Larkspur loves to play Nurse Nancy
I ended up using several patterns for the dress. I used the actual pattern pieces from a Citronille pattern that looks similar to Nurse Nancy’s dress. The pattern is in French though, and between that and the fact that I wanted to modify it to create a lined dress, I followed the directions from my Oliver + S bubble dress pattern. I also spent some time with a friend’s lovely French speaking grandmother and she helped me figure out how to add the collar.
The apron I created myself. I went round and round about how to add the little blue crosses to the apron and cap, and had originally planned to add them with fabric paint. I think that would have looked better than the embroidered crosses that I ended up adding. Friends suggested reverse applique, but I was not up for it, and Larkspur didn’t care one way or the other.
Regarding the nurse’s cap: it’s pretty goofy. It didn’t turn out quite how it was supposed to. I may have another go at it. But, more than likely, I won’t because Lark thinks it’s fine. She is so glad to have the official outfit to go with her little case of bandages (but she still needs a stethoscope she says!) While the right clothes aren’t always essential, in our case, they are making one six year old nurse very happy. And this mommy is so pleased to check the “Nurse Nancy dress” of her list.
adorable! =)
Adorable! You did such a wonderful job sewing this for Larkspur. Very professional details too. What a thoughtful and resourceful mommy you are!
Goodnight nurse!!!!! That is cute!
Beautiful, love it!
Oh my. You are the best. mom. ever. Love it!
Love it, love it…
OH MY WORD that is the cutest little outfit!!!!!! You did such a great job!!!!
It absolutely adorable!! I love it.
I think you have done an absolutely brilliant job. It’s just so cute and Lark looks absolutely beautiful in it.
Aaah the innocence of childhood, its truly amazing.
its great that that’s what it takes to make a little girl happy
So sweet! You’ve done such a lovely job.
Larkspur looks like a very caring Nurse Nancy. I love her outfit – just perfect. You are one super mum for making it for her too.
it looks amazing!!
So cute! What a lovely little Nurse Nancy!
oooh, it turned out fabulously!
That is adorable!
So, so darling! Great job!
I love it! What a fun birthday present!
It turned out adorable!
Beautiful workmanship and absolutely adorable! The entire post made me smile!
That is phenomenal. And I love the hat. Love. xo
That dress is just perfect. Ilove that people are still making things for their children! I always do and both my children still love the thing that were made by hand for them. Thay are much older 20 and 25 but still ask us to make their gifts. Enjoy!!
This is AWESOME! You did an amazing job, and I love the hat, I think it’s perfect.
Oh, goodness. I love this post. Nurse Nancy is very special to us; we still have my mom’s original from the 1950s, with the adhesive from the bandaids still on the title page. My daughters also have their own, new copy (given to them by my mom.) My mom grew up reading this, I grew up reading it, and now my girls love it. I can imagine how much my eldest would love a Nurse Nancy dress.
That outfit is truly adorable and the pictures are priceless. What a wonderful gift… you did an awesome job!
I love that book! At the time, my daughter had 3 brothers to care for…just like in the book.
Very clever and very cute.
Too cute! I am sure she loves it…what girl would not?
So cute! What a wonderful costume! If you ever need help in French, let me know! I grew up in France and have only been in the US for the last 15 years, I came after High School and never went back 🙂
I have been, silently, following your blog for quite sometimes and would love to get to know you better and and not be so silent:)
Thank you for everything that you share!
what a beautiful dress! My little one has been playing Dr lately with her stuffed animals/ dolls and the Dr kit from her birthday. So sweet. The photos of the girls are darling.
The dress is just perfect, and I love the embroidered crosses. I think they were a great choice. Beautiful work — it’s such a treat to get to see children enjoying things we’ve made with our own hands!
Love the dress!!!! Larkspur will not remember that it came a year later!!!!
Congratulations! Such a good feeling to have things done. The dress is darling.
…now when is the next birthday? 🙂
The embroidery is perfect. I like the simplicity of it. A few years ago, I made my niece a midwives kit. She is fascinated by birth. She loved that little chest with the blood pressure cuff, fetoscope and stethoscope. Doesn’t it feel great to check things off the list.
Impressive!!! The cap has just the kind of old fashioned look one would expect, it’s perfect!
And I have been procrastinating doing my oldest daughter’s curtains for 2 weeks… Getting on to it right now, thank you for the motivation!
By the way, next time you have a french pattern to translate, please please do ask me, I will be sooo happy to be a part of it!
That looks like a really beautifully sewn dress! Larkspur is such lucky girl. My grandmother worked in a sewing factory when she was really young (she had to, because it was war-time France and her father was permanently disabled from mustard gas from the WWI trenches), which meant she was an amazing seamstress. I grew up not realizing how lucky I was to have beautiful little clothes and costumes that I’d requested sewn for me.
I try to replicate that for my daughter as best as I can, but I’m not nearly as good as she was. All those button holes look intimidating! And the collar!
It is absolutely adorable. Great job! She will always remember this dress.
Great Nurse Nancy outfit! It is beautiful and if Larkspur likes it just the way it is then you succeeded. I just love reading your blog. It brings joy to this empty nester. Thanks
Here’s a pink stethoscope, eight dollars, free shipping! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-Head-Professional-Stethoscope-Lifetime-Limited-Warranty-New-MAGENTA-PINK-/180788659362?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a17d804a2
Such a sweet outfit – seems English to me.
Thanks Lisa! I just ordered it.
That is the cutest thing ever! You did an amazing job. Like you, I don’t always get things done on time (I felt bad for not sewing up my little one’s stuffed bird right away yesterday but did finally sit down and sew the stitches), but it’s part of being a busy parent.
This is just beautiful! (And so are your girls — what blessings!) God bless, Michele F.
That little dress is adorable and I am beyond impressed that you did not use a pattern. Maybe you should make a pattern and sell it, I know my kids would love to add that to their play clothes.
Here is the correct link: http://issuu.com/zanekathryne/docs/amabellen1/82?mode=window&printButtonEnabled=false&backgroundColor=%23222222
Sorry about that; I can’t wait to show my daughter Larkspur’s dress!
your journal and photographs are beautiful. I enjoyed reading and looking back.
Oh my goodness. . . Perfect dress! And beautiful pictures, as always.
I have a little nurse nancy over here. My mom made my daughter a dress using an old stripped men’s dress shirt a couple of years ago. She couldn’t ever figure out how to do the hat, so she made a sort of cap that we held on with bobby pins! http://issuu.com/zanekathryne/docs/amabellen1?mode=window&printButtonEnabled=false&backgroundColor=%23222222
It’s adorable! Kudos to you for improvising! I’m still learning to sew, so I definitely don’t stray anywhere away from the pattern. The dress came out great. And kudos again for finishing the project you started so long ago. My mother still has the dress she tried to make me for my first day of preschool lying around somewhere…and that was 25 years ago.
Oh Ginny you did a wonderful job!
Ginny, it’s gorgeous!!! You are such an awesome mom! I always mean to get around to doing things like that for my kiddos, but it just never happens. I love the embroidered crosses. The whole outfit is just as it should be.
Fabulous. Lucky Larkspur and Beatrice. The hat looks super and the crosses look excellent from my side of the computer screen.
Oh my, it’s adorable! I love the poufed sleeves, it reminds me of when Anne of Green Gables wanted pouf sleeves and Marilla wouldn’t let her have them so Matthew had a special dress made for her for Christmas with the poufiest of pouf sleeves. Your nurse nancy dress is darling, great job!
That is so sweet! I can’t believe you didn’t use a pattern – good job!
Oh, it’s all just so darling! I love the embroidery crosses and the little hat. Too cute! I’ll bet she was in heaven to finally wear it after all that patience. 🙂