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Vintage Cord Bunny Applique Dress Well, its quality rather quantity that you're seeing right now! I was super excited to be taking part in the KCW sewalong/challenge last week, but a couple of days in and I was struck down with the lurgy, so I only got to complete one garment. Sad times. Anyways, let me tell you about what I was able to achieve... As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to take the opportunity to make something slightly more time consuming than the quick scrap-busters I've recently been knocking out. I've got some lovely pieces of fabric that have been patiently waiting in my stash for years that aren't ear marked for any specific usage. I thought last week would be a great chance to explore the potential in a few of them.

I'm guessing that this piece of floral printed corduroy is vintage, it really reminds me of pinafores and dungarees from the late 70's. At one point I had vague plans to make some shorts for my tiny friend Kirstin (there wasn't much of this fabric!) after she mentioned that it reminded her of her childhood, but I think I used something else in the end. It's quite thick and pretty stiff, so a pinafore dress was probably always going to be the best use for it anyhow.

I considered making patch pockets from the leather to bring a slightly contemporary vibe to this garment, possibly using the original pattern's pocket piece as a guide. However, I know that Dolores will engage far more with a garment if it features an animal, character or shape that she recognises, so the leather pockets became leather bunny appliques. I had a lot of fun with my walking foot stitching down these bunnies, which I first secured with some blobs of copydex. I really like how the bunnies are now sitting in a field of flowers. I almost used the same pattern as the fawn pinafore dress, but I then unearthed this vintage pattern that's been in my stash for years. I bought it pretty cheaply from Snoopers Paradise in Brighton about four or five years ago, and it was originally published in 1978. I cut the size 3, and because I find some little girl dress patterns from the 50's, 60's and 70's disturbingly short, I added about 10cm to the length. Dolores is coming up to 2 and a half, and I think this dress may fit her this time next year, and maybe will continue to do so until she's nearly five!

It was a super simple make. Aside from the length, the only other change I made was the addition of a centre back seam to make it fit on the limited quantity of fabric. The one element I'm not wild about is that I think, in hindsight, that the buttonholes on the shoulders don't sit close enough to the edge, which is making the overlaps stick out a little bit. The combination of vintage pattern and (probably) vintage fabric along with a dash of leather detailing is making me pretty happy here. Dolores seems to love it too, but whether she still feels that way about it in a year's time remains to be seen!


Fabric: £0 (I'm pretty sure I was given this fabric)
Lining fabric: £0 (left overs from some sampling work I did last year)
Pattern: £1.50 (I may use it once again)
Leather: £0 (from a number of little samples given to me by Claire)
Butons: £0 (from my stash but were donated to me)
Total: £1.50

I'm pleased with that. Now I just need to make sure I don't forget about it so it actually sees lots of wear to make its creation worth while. How about you? If you participated in KCW, how did you get on? I hope the lurgy didn't get you too!
Posted by Zoe at 20:49 Labels: baby/child, dress, KCW, me-made, pinafore, vintage fabric, Vintage sewing patterns 
Sorry to hear that you have had the lurgy. It seems to be really virulent and nasty this year. Half of my work have had it very badly too. That is a beautiful dress. I adore the little bunnies. They definitely win over pockets in my book. I am sure that Dolores will really love it for a long time to come. Also, how cool that it cost so little to make. Xx

29 February 2016 at 20:57 
Love the dress. I didn't take part but I did make a reversible wrap top today, Craftiness is not an option pattern, tutorial on birchfabrics. It's a beauty to sew and looks lovely done. I used all stash stuff, trying to buy nothing new.

29 February 2016 at 22:30 
This is such a sweet little pinafore! The little bunnies really make it special! Hope you start feeling better soon!

1 March 2016 at 15:11 
I love the pinafore and the bunnies. Such a clever idea. I hope you are recovered now. Lurgy with little child is no fun at all xx

2 March 2016 at 06:25 
It's adorable! The bunnies are perfect with that fabric.

2 March 2016 at 14:55 
This is so cute Zoe! I love the combination of fabric & bunnies. Vintage girls dresses are really short aren't they?!

8 March 2016 at 15:39