This past summer, my sister and I took some time to sort through boxes of things from our mother and two grandmothers. These have accumulated at our family house, and the experience of opening them was nostalgic, sentimental, and at times comical (think preschool crafts and baby teeth! 🦷). Among the boxes, we each found some things we could use in our own homes. I have been mildly obsessed with making dresses from old textiles, so I was thrilled to find an embroidered tablecloth.

For the dress pattern, I took one of my favorite sundresses and traced a pattern. I did make several alterations to the waistline and skirt front and of course, I added big pockets. It took a few adjustments to get the fit I wanted, and now that I have a pattern I like, get ready to see me use it over and over!

One of the fun challenges of a tablecloth dress is laying out the pattern to make the most of the decorative details. In this case, I ended up making the front and back of the skirt out of two pieces each, so I could place the embroidery along the side seams. I cut the bodice front on the bias, and I added interfacing to this piece to keep it from stretching. The straps are also “fussy cut” to center a line of embroidery. Another fun detail was green bias binding added to the waistline and top of the bodice.

This dress makes me happy, because it’s made of more than fabric – it’s made of memories of home ❤️

Cheers,

Julie AKA “Jewels”