~grandma’s vintage dress repurposed~

hello friends,

Today I’m going to show you how you can repurpose beautiful vintage fabric into pretty and functional home decor and gift items!

Here’s a little ~sneak peek~ ‘cos I know you want to see the after first!!

{*please note, these photos were edited to reflect the true fabric colours, but as others of you are experiencing blogger is making all the photos darker....*}

Some time ago a friend asked me if I would sew her something from a vintage dress she had kept from her grandma. She wanted something that would be a keepsake, but more useful than a dress.

Being a lover of all things vintage I was excited to see the dress, and it did not disappoint.

{I remembered to snap a quick photo.}

They sure knew how to put a dress together back in the day, it was so well made with tucks and pleats and pretty covered buttons. I almost want to call it a frock, it just seems to suit it better than dress!

just look at the details…

Sewing dresses is fidd-il-y stuff, so hats off to the seamstresses who create such beautiful garments!

The fabric is so pretty too!

 Bold flowers and embossed stitching.

Well it was a little challenging to work with, with all the tucks and seams and pretty details there wasn’t a large piece of fabric available.

The largest piece I could salvage was a 12x16” panel for a pillow cover.

I used a smaller piece to make a lavender pillow~

~and popped an offcut into an embroidery hoop.

I couldn’t bear to part with even the scraps and since I love raggy bunting so much, I made her a little mini bunting with the scraps.

My friend loved it and there’s still a large piece of grandma’s dress left for another project one day!

I put off making that first cut for a long time, what if I wrecked the dress?? Yikes!! 

But working with vintage fabric you truly end up with something unique, all the more special when it has a special memory attached like this dress did.

Happy vintage sewing!

linking up to Amaze Me Monday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Inspire Me Monday at Sand and Sisal
Share Your Stuff Tuesday

Tracey

xox