Pillowcase to Burda 9696

We’ve been invited to a wedding! Rather than buy new dresses for myself and the girls, I decided to make instead. Bella’s got done first, as I had the *cutest* pair of vintage pillowcases in a sweet yellow floral pattern that would make the perfectest dress for her … and I used Burda 9696 as my base:

I didn’t have enough of the pillowcase fabric to make the full skirt the pattern shows, so I reduced the number of tucks to make it fit the fabric. The pattern also shows a tulle underskirt – far too skritchy for a little one, so instead I added an organza overskirt, using the full pattern pieces for the skirt, and finished the hem with a sweet strip of rik-rak I had in the notions box that matched, colourwise, perfectly. Hemming organza is one thing that drives me demented – it won’t hold a crease, and it creeps and slips like a basket of snakes. Ugghhhhh – but it looks *so* pretty when it’s done! I interfaced the bodice as well, since Bella has texture issues with clothes, and I don’t want her having a tantie about it itching mid-church. I’m pretty pleased with it, and Bella loves it too … though she’s been a bit too chocolatey since Easter to model it properly, so here it is on a hanger:

I’ve started work on Honey’s dress – another Burda pattern, again with a variation – using a gorgeous silvery-sage-green damask linen tablecloth* and a chiffon scarf I snagged from the charity shop (another nightmare to hem )

* if you have damask linen tablecloths, check their age before you hack into them … some of the older ones can be quite valuable, and you’ll destroy that value if you chop them up, even if they are stained and/or threadbare. If in doubt, check first