The Tablecloth Shift Dress: nautical dress interrupted

Hia!

I have a confession to make.

Last week I cut and started my nautical dress and
 I claimed that this week you would see it sewn.  

Sorry but you won't 

(Remorseful face!  Is there an emoticon for that?)

I had every intention of getting that project completed until...

I found this AMAZING tablecloth at the back of my linen cupboard!

I love bright colours and yellow is one of my faves.
I also adore daisies, as they are cheerful and timeless in their simplicity.

That is right, I got absolutely distracted by a tablecloth, an old tablecloth to boot, with a gorgeous 1960-70's print.

I thought...'Hello my lovely, I can work with you!'  

I have had it a while and intended to use it one day, but it was too large for our little round dining table.
  

It is a very light but sturdy cotton, that feels so soft to touch.

This tablecloth needed a new life. 

I also know we are in for some more hot weather here in Melbourne and I need a practical, cool dress for when I head back to the trenches next week.

The shift dress made popular in the 1960's was just the ticket. 

 



I have a couple of shop bought shift dresses already (Thanks Modcloth!), and they are so comfy and cool, but I don't have a pattern for one so I improvised.

I took the bodice pattern from Butterick B5748 and lengthened it.  Of course I brought it out on an angle so that it covered my hips and made a bell shape.  

As I wanted it to be light and airy I decided not to fully line it, but I did need to understitch the neckline's facing.  

New Skills

As you may recall, last week I did not know how to understich. During the week I read all four of my dressmaking books and still didn't get it.  My lovely Mum, also tried to explain it to me, but I am very much a visual and tactile learner and needed to see it done.  

In the end I found this Youtube tutorial by Professor Pincushion, which was quite helpful.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8WM4yjqawU

N/B: In fact I watched a few of her tutorials and found them all pretty clear and easy to learn from. Thanks Professor!

So after watching the video a couple of times I went straight to the sewing machine and this was the result:

One of the other tutorials I watched was on creating a patch pocket, so I figured I would give that a go as well:

Gathering the pocket edge

Pressed and ready to be sewn to the garment.
Yay for new skills!!

The appeal of the slip-over dress

Most of my dresses have zips but because of my 'T-Rex arms' I often have trouble zipping them all the way up.  I have one dress that I can just slip over my head and I think it is great for that reason, thus I decided the 'Tablecloth dress' would be the same.  

Finishings 

Even a simple shift dress needs some extras to give it that little something else.  I thought I would put the pocket I made on to the 'tablecloth dress', but found it too distracting.  Instead, I put a decorative front band down the centre in a contrasting green cotton topped with one daisy shaped button.  

Here is the completed dress:

The finishing touches :-)

And here it is on me:

 Up-cycling!

Not so shabby for a tablecloth hey?  I love the fact that this fabric is now going to be enjoyed for years to come instead of being shut up in a linen cupboard or worse yet thrown out (gasp!)

So, what do you have in the back of your linen cupboards that can be made more useful? 



Well, that's it for this week, we WILL be back to the 'nautical dress' next week.

Unless I have another "squirrel" moment :-)


xo

History Heroine