Crawly, but not creepy

Julie (at Damn Good Vintage) has this adorable snail-print dress up right now. It's only about $75 but it's teeeeeeny. Waist 24.

I love the little snails -- how could you not? And I wouldn't even mind the inevitable escargot jokes. (Although my favorite escargot reference is this one. [warning video link])

Don't the snails look as if they were drawn by Ian Falconer (who does the Olivia books)?

Here's Olivia:



And here's a closeup of the snails:



I think this similarity is deeply significant, but I don't know why. Or how. All I know is that if this dress were in my size (PETER PAN COLLAR, people, and POCKETS) I would own it.

This also reminds me that I have some really cute bug-print fabric that I bought to make my son a camp shirt, and since he has shown NO interest in me making him a shirt (or, in fact, me making him anything that isn't various complicated Star Wars costumes) I think the statute of limitations has run out and I can use it for a dress. Right? Right. (Besides, I think I bought six yards, so I probably have enough for both.)

Comments

[Theresa]

I love this snail dress. I love the ruffly front. (It's sleeveless -isn't that on you *I don't* list? Doesn't it ease the pain of it being so teeny because it is not perfect?)Yes, the statute of limitations has run out. Make your bug dress, so perfect for summer. I love snails. I had a whole bunch of water snails as pets when I was younger -purple, blue, and gold shells. They were beautiful and so easy to care for!I saw cute gold fish in plastic baggy fabric on line yesterday -- Fat Quarter Shop -*I think*

[Vyola]

Oooooo, those are totally Olivia-esque snails! They will do ballet across your skirt and sulk when the cat does not applaud.

[Nora]

I love Olivia and I love that dress. Pockets - AND pintucks! We have quite a snail problem in our area - sometimes on a quiet evening you can actually HEAR them munching the garden - but I'm fond of them in a way. And they won't take an entire veggie in one swoop, like the gophers.

[damngoodvintage.com]

You know I love my snail dress, but what I would love even more is a dress with little Olivia's dancing across it.I love Olivia....

[Ang]

MUCH love, and indeed so very Olivia like!!! I wish for a 24" waist more often than is healthy...not even so much for the "I want to be thin" reasons as much for the wanting to wear cute vintage more often reasons. Great dress, Julie!! Ang

[Erin]

I'm okay with sleeveless; it's backless or spaghetti-strapish that I can't do. :-(I want a 24" waist, for much the same reason! But not enough to stop eating to get it ...

[Theresa]

Olivia Fabric http://www.quiltbasket.com/s-101-olivia-dreams-big.aspx

[Wendy]

One spring I had the pleasure of making smocked dresses for three little girls. One was a bug dress for the daughter of biologist parents, one was a manatee dress for my niece who had a passion for manatees and the last was a shark dress, with a pieced shark bodice and sharks teeth hemline.No ruffles and lace for these girls. Wendy in NM

[Laura]

I saw that dress the other day, and I absolutely love it. Sadly, I know a 24" waist is not in my future...

[bonnie-ann black]

wendy: i have a couple of nieces who would *love* those kinds of dresses -- the shark one in particular. did you just adapt a regular smock dress pattern and do pieces on the hem from white material? sounds wonderful.

[ambika]

The pintucks along the front are lovely. The whole thing is just gorgeous. But I don't think I even had a 24 inch waist at the age of 16.

[jessicajlee]

I love this print and dress! It does look like Olivia... who I also love. If only I were a 24 waist.

[Alison]

I have the waist, but not $75 dollars.And god do I want this.Such is youth.

[Danni]

Reminds me of Ms Frizzle and the Magic School Bus, personally!I think it's great. :)

[Carol]

More Oliviahttp://www.andoverfabrics.com/OurDesigners/SingleDesigner.asp?Designer=Ian%20Falconer

[Thoughts on Life and Millinery.]

Whoa...I just took pictures of snail print fabric that I saw in Switzerland. Maybe the motif trend will crawl over here! Cute as a bug, I say.

[tarna]

Well - the pattern is on it's way. With the cooperation of the postal service, you should have it early to middle of next week. I love this blog. And I cannot wait to see how the dress turns out. Happy sewing!