amelie's dishtowel dress

"You're becoming quite a sew-er." the Sugar Daddy remarked the other day. Mostly because he doesn't use words like seamstress.

"Oh no no no." I replied. "What I'm doing isn't really sewing." I explained.

"Oh really? Cuz that dress looks like it was sewn to me."

He's such as smart aleck.

I guess I have been dabbling. And if I call it dabbling then my major mistakes don't count. And no one can expect anything really great from me.

So here's the scoop on the dishtowel dress. A person doesn't have to look very hard to find vintage embroidered dish towels in antique shops.  And they are cheap cheap cheap and oh so very sweet.

I bought the dishtowel for this dress for $3. It is a large gauzy cotton towel that is 30 X 34 inches. The embroidery is impeccable. It is in great condition.  I knew I wanted to find a way to turn it into something for the Bird to wear.

I sewed a linen ruffle along the edge of one end and a pink trim along the other end. I folded the towel in half with the linen end a little longer.  I sewed along the fold leaving a one inch seam to thread elastic through.  Then I placed right sides together and sewed the back seam together but I made sure the top layer with the pink trim was left open so the dress had a certain apron feel to it.

Then I found some fabric scraps and made ties. I sewed the ties onto the front of the dress and they tie behind the neck.  I used up the rest of my scraps and made a bow for the back.

It took me about a half hour. Maybe less. Again- I only sew super easy.  This is almost more simple than the pinafore dress.

And cheaper.

You could easily leave off the ties and use this for a skirt for an older girl or trim the fabric to make it shorter for a little girl.

It is going to make the prefect little beach dress this summer. I love that the whole project only cost around $4.  I'm itching to get out and find more dishtowels!

Happy sewing! Share your photos with me if you end up making one!

amelie's pinafore pattern

Let the record show that there is no way on God's green Earth that I wasn't going to have a daughter in this life.  And this is why.

Girl stuff. Clothing. Jewelry. Pedicures. Lip Gloss.

Let the record also show that this project is one of the easiest sewing projects you will ever do. The button holes are hardest part. I kid you not.

For this pinafore I used some butter yellow European linen and repurposed shower curtain fabric that I scored a little while back. I am madly in love with linen. It's luscious. Watch this. You might love it too.

You can whip up this pinafore in twenty minutes flat if you skip the embroidery.  Embroidery takes a little time. But it also makes it extra special.

I plan on making The Bird a slew of these babies. The next one will have rick rack around the edge. I'm planning tuxedo ruffles down the front for another one.  If you keep it simple, you can easily make it reversible by adding two flat buttons on each side of the fabric.

You can also sew the buttons on the front panel so the flaps are on top. That looks equally as nice. The pattern fits Amelie at two years as a tunic with room to grow.  I'm thinking it will fit for another year or so.

The possibilities are limitless with this pattern.  The only thing it can't do is your laundry. Sorry.

You can download my pattern here. 

For free. Cuz that's how I roll. (Mostly)

The file includes my hand drawn embroidery designs that I used. You can also find tons of free and very cute embroidery patterns online.