One Pattern, Many Dresses

I usually don't make more than one of a pattern, which I guess is pretty dumb if I find a pattern I really like. I'm getting better at this, though. There is, however, a pattern that I've made many versions of for my daughter. She has always had a thing for strapless dresses, and Simplicity 4070 has served me well.

The firsts dress

The first dress I made with the pattern was with this beautiful faux silk dupioni (ok, it was polyester) that I found on clearance at Joanns.

The Babydoll dress

Later she wanted a dress for her cousin's wedding. We saw one while we were out shopping and of course I said, "I could make one like that." I cut the bodice off under the bust and put on a gathered, tiered lace overlay skirt and made it babydoll length.

Then there was the prom dress. During the winter of her senior year, we saw some crazy outrageous shoes and joked that she should get those for prom. Then when the prom approached, she said she was serious, she wanted those shoes. By that time they were long gone from the store. Luckily we found them online and built a dress around them.

I decided to make a muslin to make sure my idea would work so I got an old border print sheet that had belonged to her grandmother.

The bedsheet muslin

Then I got satin that matched the shoes, and made my favorite version of the dress (thus-far...). Check out the shoes!

Knitted Headband

Last winter my daughter and I were out shopping. She saw a knit headband and said she would like one, knowing full-well my reply: "I can make one like that." So I did a quick search on Ravelry and found T. Matthews Fine Art's simple and free pattern. I used Lion Brand Super Merino Cashmere, bought at Michaels with a coupon of course. The pattern calls for bulky yarn so i used two skeins and knit two pieces at a time. It turned out really cute. I might have to make one for myself!

A Dress Made Out of a Tablecloth

My sister has this great lake house in Minnesota that I love to visit. One of the best parts of visiting her is going to this awesome flea market close by. My sister knows me well and sent a package of stuff she found that she knew I would love - some vintage lace-edged hankies and tablecloth. My daughter took one look at the tablecloth and said, "What are you going to do with that? Make a dress or something?" To which I of course replied, "Why yes, I think I will."

I dug out this vintage McCalls pattern I had stashed away. Much to my delight, the previous owner had already made some sizing adjustments, so I only needed to make minor adjustments.

And voila! A dress made out of a tablecloth!