We've all got summer on the mind and I've been doing my best to find dresses made up of the lightest cotton possible! I did recently find a fab tweed dress that will just have to wait until the end of the summer to get some love. So with warmth in the air and June right around the corner, it's time to see what Ash has worked out for us this month!
Hej, friends! I debated which item to tackle for my May redo from the towering pile of clothes from my mom's attic. There were a couple of very flowery/springy options but I wound up landing on this piece from the 80s. While this pattern is a bit autumnal in tone, I just love that paisley print and the cotton was so light and airy...
...I thought I could turn it into a flouncy, playful spring dress with a few key adjustments. And it has POCKETS! Gosh, I am such a sucker for a dress with pockets. Just like my Grammy who was always stashing tissues or handkerchiefs in her dress pockets, I've even found a rogue rumpled handkerchief in some of her dresses since she passed in 2001. A reminder that an appreciation and love of dress pockets is timeless. Who else out there is dress pocket obsessed?
My mom informed me that this dress was purchased at Appleseed's (at their original flagship store in Hingham, MA) for my parents' yearly Thanksgiving tomfoolery with their siblings/cousins. A pre-kid pastime that involved many a case of wine and champagne, silly face masks that were worn during the meal, and copious amounts of food, friendship and laughter. Sounds like a grand occasion indeed.
While I was digging the paisley, I was not digging those tapered long sleeves and the length on my 6 foot frame.
I started by cutting a few inches off the bottom of the dress. I hemmed accordingly, but had some trouble as this cotton was more jersey-like in quality and given what a newbie sewer I am, the stretchiness gave me some trouble. I wound up re-hemming because I wasn't thrilled with my initial attempt. Thus, the dress wound up a tad shorter than I had envisioned, but not appalling so.
Then I took a seam ripper to those sleeves and removed 'em completely. I hemmed the edges, and took in the sides ever so slightly so that the dress fit without fully exposing my brassiere under the armpit.
I popped it on with a vintage belt of my grandmother's (but of course!), my favorite pair of Frye boots...
...and my new Pinellapi bag (handmade by my friend Maja who I was visiting in Sweden last month.) I promised a peek at some Scandinavian accessories from my trip, and I've been itching to showcase this beauty. You can find her work for sale in the US here. She is one very talented lass.
I very much appreciated that one of our trees so beautifully matched the burgundy in the paisley. Thanks, pretty tree!
I wore this dress to the office already this week and received many a compliment. I always love having a story to tell when someone comments on a piece of my wardrobe. What I've loved about these My Mother's Attic pieces is that they are a part of a larger history, and it's humbling to think that I'm somehow a part of that story.
Thanks for letting me share a piece of those histories here. Until next month... xoxo Ash
To keep up with Ash online, find her over at Blog a la Cart and here onTwitter, Instagram, & FB!
