handmade vintage dress for hesper

Like most things, I'm blogging about one month after the event...but anyway. The last thing I made for Hesper was a dress for a wedding that we went to, yep, last month.  Having never attempted anything so complicated (complicated to me, that is), I thought I would just give it a go... besides, there's always Next when it ends up looking like a mutilated sleeping bag. But, surprisingly it turned out alright, it wasn't too tricky and I even enjoyed making it. I did start it well in advance, so I could do a bit each evening without getting too panicky. Best part is it hardly cost a thing, second best part is Hesper actually enjoyed wearing it... enjoyed, not just tolerated!

It could have cost me nothing, as I used fabric that I already had, my only real expense was a reel of grosgrain ribbon from John Lewis for a waistband, some new thread, netting and some press studs, totalling about £12. But, I didn't use all this stuff and I could have made it by using supplies that I already had, but I chose to go with press studs as I didn't fancy messing up the button holes at the last hurdle. I also wanted to add a trim of gathered net at the bottom to look like an underskirt.

The fabric is a vintage blue and yellow rose print that I bought from a charity shop years ago and have never got round to using - proper Granny curtain material. The dress also has a dark blue shiny lining, again fabric that I've had stored away for years. I made a flower hair clip with some of the ribbon and teamed it with a gorgeous yellow cardy from John Lewis.

 

The pattern came from a book that I bought a while ago called Making Children's Clothes by Emma Hardy. This is only the second thing I have made from it so far, but the patterns and instructions are clear and easy to follow and are clothes that you would actually want your child to wear. I adapted the party dress pattern to use cotton print instead of plain satin and added a ribbon waistband and a gathered net trim at the bottom. Incidentally, the smock top that I made for Hesper here also came from this book (forgot to credit at the time ... oops).


// Making Children's Clothes by Emma Hardy is available to buy here //