Back in March, I was asked by the Navy Hale Keiki School to make twelve lei day dresses. They had a dress from the previous year that they really liked. I liked it, too. However, I didn't like not having a pattern to use. And this is where my adventure began....
I would never suggest charting a pattern from anything that you can't take apart. But, I had no choice. I sketched the pieces out onto some $1.99 fabric, measuring and drawing, re-drawing and re-measuring. I feel like it took me forever, but in hindsight, it probably only took me a few hours. Day 1, I had a pattern. About day 10, I had fabric and a mission.
I won't go into all the details of making each dress tailored to each girls' measurements. Because first, I would never divulge anyone's measurements, and two this blog post would be a mile long. The ending results was absolutely beautiful. There's nothing like seeing a rainbow of color. Here's what I mean:
You can see most of the eight colors. Each color represents an island of Hawaii.
Red - Hawai'i
Pink - Maui
Yellow - Oahu
Purple - Kauai
Green - Moloka'i
Orange - Lana'i
Blue - Ni'ihau
Gray - Kaho'olawe
These two were the "ladies in waiting".
My friend's daughter, Ashley.
Ka Moi Wahine (the Queen), Alaina Morgan
I was privileged to be able to watch the whole performance. These beautiful ladies performed a great hula. I was absolutely honored to have been apart of this celebration.
Eleven of the ladies did one hula performance. But, the Queen had her own. Alaina was amazing - poised, elegant, and beautiful. I was utterly impressed.
While there was so much work involved in making these dresses, I would never trade it for anything. If I cross my fingers, I may even get to do this again next year. Here's to hoping!!
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