Refashionings

Yesterday I made a dress for Clara! The fabric started its life as a table runner, but a couple years ago we spilled a bit of wax on it and as hard as I've tried I have not been able to get it out. So I threw the runner in a drawer with the hope that some day I'd come up with a way to save it.


I had originally thought I would try to fix it and still use it as a table runner, but recently I bought a dress pattern for Clara and decided to use the runner for that instead. You can't see it very well in the picture above, but the runner had a border stitched around it, so I cut the dress pieces in such a way as to use that border and not have to hem the dress. And here's the result...

It's a pale green linen. It's just a little too big for her now, but by mid to late summer she should be able to wear it I think. I can't decide if I should jazz it up a little more with ribbon around the waistline or an applique or something. I think for now I'll leave it. Maybe when she's able to wear it I'll decide it needs something more.

The table runner I already had, the pattern cost $1.99, bias tape $1.79 (but I have enough left to use for another dress) and the zipper cost $1.79... for a total of $5.57. Not too bad. And the next dress will only cost $1.79 for the zipper, plus the cost of fabric if I don't use something already in my stash. Love it!

Plus this was the first time I've sewn a zipper and it wasn't nearly as scary as I always thought it would be. I feel empowered now! On to the next zipper project...