Vintage 50’s Toddler Dress

Saturday was a ” sew like a fool” day for me.

I had been planning to make a Christmas dress for Annabelle (my nephew’s daughter for whom I made the cape in my previous post).  I have been waiting on tracing paper I purchased from Nancy’s Notions (would you believe it – none of the local fabric/craft stores carry tracing paper! ).  So, my 77 yards of 21″ wide paper arrived Friday afternoon, and I just couldn’t wait to get started on Annabelle’s Christmas dress.

I also made this dress as a refashion challenge – using a man’s extra large cotton dress shirt.  It was a bit of a challenge for sure.  I wasn’t sure I would have enough material for the skirt, but with a little thought and inginuity, I was able to use the front of the shirt as the back of the dress – utlizing the completed plackets and button holes from the shirt, replacing the ugly brown buttons with bright red ones.

I chose the red dress pattern to make; sans the pockets and no elastic around the arms.  Since I made the dress from a bright plaid, I also omitted the embroidery; I didn’t think it would be very visible with this busy material.