Maria von Trapp

Dress and scarf: made by me
Espadrilles: Espadrillesetc.com

Sometimes a girl just needs a matching dress and head scarf.  Especially when it's 109 in the shade.

Here's the details:

Pattern: Modified Sorbetto for bodice, none for the rest

Fabric: A thrifted vintage cotton sheet

Time: About five hours but only because I changed the design halfway through.

Notions: Elastic from stash, and a vintage button from stash.

Total Cost: $4.

We're going camping next week and I have like, no summer clothes to speak of. (I have no decent clothes to speak of, but we'll address that after I get back.) I apparently got rid of them all over the last 10 months. So some lightweight camp clothes were in order. I've worn this dress more times than I care to admit this week. It's just too hot for anything else! Yesterday we had to go to a laundromat (fun fact: I am completely terrified of laundromats! they are so scary!!) to wash sleeping bags and we went ahead and grabbed the rest of the laundry to just get it done. Delaney, Grace, and I were there for a few hours and the place had no A/C. Not cool. Literally! 

This is also the only photo that came out, irritatingly. But the construction was incredibly simple. I initially put in a zipper in the front  to compensate for the fact that it was too wide in the upper chest area ( I have this problem with every pattern and it is usually the one thing I forget to alter!), but I didn't like it at all. So I ended up digging around my stash and found this one random vintage button that matched perfectly!  I gathered the front of the bodice and hand stitched the button on and it solved the fit problem right away! After adding the skirt I attached some elastic to the waistband eliminating the need for any closures. Then I topstitched on some patch pockets. the neck and armholes are faced with self binding. The scarf is literally just a triangle I cut on the selvage of some of what was left over (I still have enough of this fabric for a pair of shorts and probably a matching top!). I really love this peasant-y 60's look but it's not one I indulge in very often. I will definitely be making more of these dresses though, they are perfect for the hot weather! The best thing about using old sheets like this is that if you use the yardage wisely there is very little hemming involved. The hem of this is the top part of the sheet where the hem is wider. The pockets were cut on the opposite end of the fabric where the hem was narrower. The only finishing this dress required was the neck and arm openings! The second best thing about using old linens as fabric? You feel like Maria von Trapp, which is always a good thing in my book!