The Belated Sundress

Why belated? Because I think I made this dress for Rosa when she was about nine months old. And considering that nine months is about half of her current lifespan, I think that's rather belated!

But better late than never, right?

I used a thrifted linen skirt (beautiful, but not my style), so the whole project cost $1 in materials. See the fancy diamond pintucks on the yoke? I totally did all of that myself  That was one of the skirt's details, which I just had to salvage. Basically, using thrifted clothing can not only save you a bunch of moolah, it can also save you a ton of work (or just make your projects more interesting, because it's highly unlikely I would have bothered with all of those tucks). 

The pattern is one I drafted myself, probably using an existing pattern to get some idea for the size (it's been a while since I made this, so I can't be sure!). I used my favorite placket method -- a seam up the center back, with a strip of fabric for the placket. It's so very easy that I almost can't stand any other kind of placket.

It's always a challenge to work an entire dress or project out of an existing garment -- sometimes it requires quite a bit of creativity! Or at least some contrast fabric. *wink* Fortunately I was able to get every single piece that I needed, with a few ruffles to boot. The bodice is lined (which conveniently envelops the bodice/skirt seam).

This dress has been worn so many times since it was made! Which you can tell a bit from the pictures. It lasted beyond summer into winter (this is Florida, so I could pair it with a sweater for cooler weather), and it's still going strong. I'm discovering that dresses are the best when it comes to lasting more than one size.  

I mentioned my love of leather in my last post, and now this post features one of my other loves (linen). But you know, I love the little person inside the linen best.