Coordinating Older Boy + Girl Easter Outfits (and why this was the simplest yet most difficult thing for me)

As many of you know, I lost both of my grandmothers last year.  My dad's mom, Granny, passed away in late July.  Then, in November, my mom's mom, Grandma, passed away.  These were my last two living grandparents, which made the sting of their deaths even more painful.

At each of their funerals, I had the great honor of speaking and sharing about their life.  While they were very different women, they were also very similar.  Some of my most treasured memories from their lives include hours, even days, we spent together in their sewing rooms.  I have shortcuts and tricks, as well as foundational sewing knowledge I learned from each of them, and am forever grateful for each handmade item they sewed for me and my kids:  church dresses, pageant dresses, prom dresses, my wedding dress, nursing scrubs, baby blankets, an heirloom baby bonnet, library book bags, bathrobes, party dresses....  I could go on for quite some time listing all the treasures I have that they sewed.

When Granny and Grandma passed away, I inherited a sewing machine from each of them.  From Granny, I received her serger, and from Grandma, I received her computerized Brother sewing machine.

These machines have sat in my office since late 2016 and I would look at them often and then find myself quickly looking away.  I just couldn't bring myself to sew on the machines that these sewing matriarchs had used.  These two women taught me 90% of what I know about sewing today, so using their machines and claiming them as my own wasn't something to take lightly.  I didn't want to un-thread their needles, remove their thread, change their setting.  I didn't feel worthy to have the machines they each treasured in my office.

However, as Easter approached, I knew I wanted to move past this feeling and actually use the machines.  I wanted to make an Easter dress for my daughter (seven, almost eight years old), and I wanted that to be the first thing I made on their machines.

It was important to me that the first item I sewed on the machines of my grandmothers wasn't something for business or for profit, but something for my family.  Because that's what these women did -- they constantly sewed things for grandchildren and family.  I wanted to hold their honor high and follow the same model.

So, I sewed an Easter dress for my daughter, and a matching pair of shorts (paired with a navy collared tee) for my son.  It was not without tears, but I'm so glad I used their machines to do these two things.

The dress is from Made Everyday First Day Dress Pattern, and the shorts are also from the Made Everyday pattern.  The seersucker blue and white stripe with navy embroidered anchors fabric was from Hobby Lobby about three years ago, so sadly, no longer available.

The patterns are both quite simple and come together very quickly.  I sewed the dress in about three hours (once I worked through my initial emotional mess), and the shorts only took about one hour.  The hardest part of the entire project?  Not being able to call and talk to Granny or Grandma about the process, ask questions along the way, or being able to send them photos of the finished product.