Re-purposed linen dress from Ottobre 3/10

So, I made another dress out of the newest Ottobre 3/10 (click here to see the Harebell dress)...

Summer 2010 Ottobre cover

I know, I know, I promised I would make something for the boy next... and I did, but it wasn't as cute as I had hoped. I made the little boy's dress shirt, "Apple" out of a thrifted grey Calvin Klein men's shirt and it ended up looking really blah. Dharma Initiative workman shirt blah. Sometimes grown-up fabric doesn't translate to little kid wear, and this is a good example of that. I did really like the pattern, though, so I plan to make it again out of kid-friendly fabric.

blah - didn't even add buttons. sigh.

That being said, I'm very pleased with how the linen dress I made turned out.

"Plum Tree" linen dress

And even more pleased that it was made from re-purposed linen! Behold... what I once used to carry my little ones

made-by-me linen ring sling ca. 2007

is now an adorable dress!

It's the "Plum Tree" pattern, made in a size 98 cm. Instead of embellishing the yoke with ribbon and lace, I decided to use a voile from Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks collection. Yes, I've been using a lot of Little Folks.... yes, I might be a tad obsessed. Self-admitted.

Little Folks yoke

The dress is really more of a tunic and in the magazine, it is shown paired with cotton leggings... they're already cut and probably pretty necessary, as this dress is pretty short.

It has cute pleated pockets on the front accented with a small heart button

and fastens with an invisible zipper in the back. Just a few pattern pieces and came together very easily. Once again, I flubbed on tracing and adding seam allowances... really, really wish Ottobre and other European pattern designers would just add them in! This time, it was on the back panel... the SA is already included for the zipper, but I added them to the pattern piece. I didn't realize my mistake until the zipper was already installed and I began to attach the neckline facing. I didn't have any desire to unpick a zipper, so the issue was easily remedied with two tiny pintucks at the back neck. The zipper is also placed a tad too high. Oops.

Regardless of the small issues, I adore the finished product. The voile, Forest Hills in berry, was interfaced for the yoke and facing. It is just so lovely with the tiny cottages and galloping deer (antelope? reindeer?) and fits the natural-hued linen perfectly. Very happy with this upcycled piece that can be worn for just about any occasion - even flying a kite!

or getting a hug from your sister (her top is blogged here):