[meleliza]

Is it too much? I’ve been pondering this since last summer when we learned it’s a girl and haven’t yet come to a conclusion. Baby is nearly 5months old, so if it’s ever OK, there’s a limited window in which it’s OK. If I’m making things for both of us, there tends to be fabric left over. It’s really just practical, isn’t it? Or is there no amount of justifying that makes it less than silly?

[violetvata]

Having no daughters myself, my experience is limited …but I do coordinate with my sons occasionally, usually due to leftover fabric….I think the idea is coordinating…not matching…for example, use the baby dress fabric as an accent for your jacket rather than having a similar style dress in the exact same fabric….just my opinion. Having three boys close in age I give this a lot of thought, I want them to look good next to each other in pictures but not to be matching..I try to focus on what styles actually look the best on that child (face shape, body type, preference for knits/woven, etc) and then use coordinating fabrics to bring different patterns together. I have a big flickr photo stream if you care to peek….

[Liesl Gibson]

I have only this to contribute to the discussion:

http://disdressed.blogspot.com/2006/02/on-art-craft-and-wearing-same-dress.html

Don’t let this happen to you.

[beachmom]

For myself personally, no. I’d be like the picture on Liesl’s blog since I have 3 girls!lol Maybe if I only had one daughter? I did dress the girls alike when B-saurus was younger but that was my eldest’s wishes. Last Easter all 3 girls wore the same style dress but in different colors (blue, yellow, pink) and I guess I kind of went together with that since I had on a dress with those colors in the floral print. http://siestasandsewing.blogspot.com/2010/04/happy-easter.html

Kayleen is so much more grown up now that I don’t see doing even that (the girls matching) this year.

But back to mom-daughter…matching exactly, no. Coordinating a little bit, I suppose.

Cindy

[TriMama]

I don’t do it. I have two daughters (2 and 4yo) and they sometimes like to be “matching” but I don’t expect it to last much longer. They already look like clones of each other and my oldest is getting a bit annoyed when people ask if they’re twins.

I think the only place I could see it being appropriate is if you’re all in a wedding party together, when it’s normal to wear matching clothes.

If you do make similar outfits, just wear them on separate days.

Liesl – That photo is priceless! If either of your younger sisters aren’t married yet you must include it in a photo montage at her wedding. Make sure the groom doesn’t see it beforehand though!

[emstone]

Right now I have a 10 month old and a 2 year old so I do match them sometimes. I usually just use the same fabric but make different outfits so that they look similar but it is not exactly the same. Occasionally I will slip in some of the fabric in one of the skirts or dresses that I am making as an accent. It makes it so that we are not exact “twinkies” but something subtle.

I too have some awful pictures of matching outfits. Mainly between my mother and I but even with my little brother!!!

[scgoble]

I am one of three daughters and have lots of photo examples of mother-daughter matching. Mostly these were done for church directory photos (I don’t know if other parts of the country/world do those directories, maybe it’s a Southern thing). Seeing as how it was the 80s, the outfits were horrible. But honestly at the time I didn’t think anything about it, and we thought we looked cute – this was when we were very young though, at that age when you think your parents can do no wrong! I have since teased my mother about it on many occasions.

I think coordinating without outright matching is the way to go.

[Sarvi]

Some of my Japanese sewing books have big/little outfits as a theme for the book. Usually there’ll be something like a puffy dress for the little girl in the same material as a more tailored tunic for the older person. The color schemes tend to be pretty ‘taupe rainbow’ as well, which I think makes a difference. I always thought people who matched outfits were so tacky, until I had a daughter and found this strange compulsion to wear my white swiss dot blouse with jeans if she was wearing her white swiss dot blouse with chambray Sailboat pants. What a difference it makes to actually walk that mile in the other person’s sparkly red shoes.

[Nicole]

If it makes you happy,go for it,I can think of worse thing my children would need a therapist for when older!

[JohannaO]

I did it once- for family pictures no less. My MIL request red white and blue colors, so I made myself a dress, a popover dress for the little bit out of the same material, a skirt for my SIL in a coordinating fabric, a dress for my niece in another coordinating color, and appliqued matching tees for my nephews. After all that, only my boys (including my husband) and my in-laws weren’t in matching things. What is it about the shoe-maker’s children?

[Nicole]

It makes it handy for washing when you get home!

[Rebecca W]

I don’t think that I would do it. I would say coordinating is fine- like I like the idea of using accent fabric, but I wouldn’t do matching. Well- I would do matching pj’s. But that is different. i have 2 girls and i made them matching dresses for Christmas this year (it was our first one with 2 kids) and I think that I might go with coordinating instead of matching in the future.

And Liesl- Wow. Great photo. 🙂

[dkbnyc]

i wouldnt wear matching- but my girls still like to have things be matching or similar- they are 3 and 6.

i have on occasion found me and the 6yo strangely similar: sneakers, cargos, gray tshirt, hoodie….. stuff like that

[millie]

I have three daughters, an 8yr old and 2yr old twins. I never dress them the same, but for the twins, I usually try and make the same pattern in different fabrics, or a similar theme if I’m to include the eldest girl. I can’t imagine a time would ever come that I would be organised enough to make myself something to even co-ordinate, let alone match!

The person who I think does the whole “co-ordinated family look” best is Katy from No Big Dill http://thedillspiel.blogspot.com/ . And she has 5 girls! Check out the Christmas and Easter outfits.

It is a very personal choice, but I would rather co-ordinating over matching.

[runciblespoon]

I haven’t tried it, but must admit this book makes me want to…

http://www.misformake.co.uk/product/les-couleurs-francaises-japanese-craft-book.

Is this the one you were talking about, Sarvi?

I know my daughter would carry it off so much better than me, though, and she’s not quite one yet!