Where were you born/where did you spend your childhood? I was born in Western Nebraska, but grew up in the Ozarks (Southwest Missouri).
Who did you grow up with? It was just me,
my younger brother, and our parents. We spent most of our time with cousins, who all lived nearby.
Did you have a childhood ambition? No particular ambition that I can recall, except perhaps to be the best at everything (except athletics, bleh!). Not much has changed, really. ;)
What did you like doing when you were little? I loved to read and swim. I loved The Little Mermaid. And I also apparently went through a cat phase (like, I literally pretended to be a cat. Often.). (Psst -  Tasha, Issie has been in the same cat phase for a couple of years!! - Suz)
   

Do you see any similarities between yourself and your child/children? Physically, not really. My children both look more like my husband, I think. The kids and I all have great fine motor skills and love to eat. Both my son and daughter exercise extreme caution around dangerous objects or activities. My husband had previously believed I MUST have suffered some traumatic event to behave this way. I told him he was wrong. He believes me now. All three of us also have small heads. Ha!
 

Do you live far from where you grew up? Not at all; about 25 miles away.
Where do you live now and who with? I currently live in Springfield, Missouri with my husband, Chris, and two children: Emerson (3 years) and Felix (18 months). As a young girl I was spoiled by a grandma who loved to sew for me (the first photo above shows my cousin, my grandma, and me--in a dress she sewed). As a kid, I didn't realize all the time and thought that went into each lovingly-made dress. Eventually she stopped sewing for me, but she saved the most precious pieces and gifted them to me at my baby shower for Emerson. E is just now starting to grow into my old handmade clothing. For this series, I knew I wanted to recreate a handmade outfit. But I also didn't want it to be exactly the same (since I already have the originals!).
 

The dress I chose is the same shown in the photo at the top of this post, though I assume it must have been sewn specifically for this photo. This is me at age three (?) with my cousin, in 1991 (I think). For Emerson's dress I wanted to mimic the style lines and fabric, but modernize it a bit. I used the Debbie's Birthday Dress pattern as my starting point, added the sleeves from the Sunki pattern (Figgy's Patterns), a simple gathered rectangle for the skirt, and modifying the bodice to accommodate a button-front closure.



The dress turned out to be a little big for Emerson. Though I think for comparison's sake it's not too far off from my own 1991 dress. I love the modern floral (in fact, I've used this same fabric in another colorway many times) and simple twill tape trim combined with the loose fit and puffy sleeves.



My 1991 dress's sleeves were even more accentuated by a single pleat bringing the sleeve hem in close to the arm. I wanted a more relaxed look for E's dress, and instead chose to add a narrow cuff trimmed with twill tape.



The neckline here is way off from the original, but only because my machine completely ate up the fabric when I tried to put in the top buttonhole. I improvised (okay...disguised my mistake) by folding the bodice over and tacking it down.



I could've put in regular buttons here, but I wanted this dress to be the-same-but-different, remember? And I've been experimenting with button alternatives lately. These tiny twill tape bows sure hit the spot.



I honestly wasn't sure how I felt about this dress at first. Even now, I'm not 100% sure I love it as a stand-alone thing-I've-made. I do think it is a great ode to my own 1991 handmade dress. Emerson loves it (it's so spinny!). Even though it isn't my favorite, I think I'll hold on to this one and add it to the collection my grandmother made for me. Maybe in 25 years E will be making a 2040-inspired-by-2015-inspired-by-1991 dress.