The Fourth of July isn't here quite yet, but Hayden is already dressed for the occasion. I just couldn't resist transforming this patriotic bandana (from our latest Eco Emi box) into a festive dress for the upcoming holiday or any other fun summer day. Although it came with a card showing multiple ways to wear and display the stars and stripes fabric square (I featured the hairstyle side of the card in my last post), I was inspired to create one of my own design.
The dress you see Hayden proudly modeling is actually a combination between this bandana apron idea and double-bandana girl's dress. I had considered making the apron for myself, but opted instead to sew something special for Hayden. Since I only had one bandana (I was so close to asking my sister for hers), I altered the original apron design to turn it into a child's size dress. Here's how I did it:
First, I searched my house for a thick ribbon or something to act as a tie. I found this white cloth ribbon that had been wrapped around a stack of wash cloths I had purchased quite some time ago. It was the perfect match.
I folded one corner of the fabric down, across the cloth ribbon, and pinned it to form the neckline. Then, I sewed it in place.
Here's what it looked like, as I planned the next steps.
I tied the fabric inside-out onto Hayden at the neckline and pinned the back seam. I sewed it and tried it on Hayden again to make sure it fit properly.
I felt it necessary to add some fabric to the bottom back of the dress, basically to cover her bottom when she runs around/bends over in it. Without hesitation (or ironing, as I was doing this project on a whim and right before a storm was about to take my good light away), I cut off the bottom triangle from the front of the dress ...
... pinned it to the back and sewed it along the original stitching.
I, then, gave the dress a new hem (yes, I know I still hadn't ironed it; if you have the time, make sure you iron yours).
Lastly, I decided to add even more interest to the dress by sewing a button hole (my sewing machine was acting up, so I quickly stitched them by hand) on each side of the back of the dress. The plan was to thread the extra neck tie length through them to create a crisscross back.
You can see the results in Hayden's photo shoot (obviously, she's happy with the dress; we took a lot of photos).
What do you think? What would you make with this bandana?
The dress you see Hayden proudly modeling is actually a combination between this bandana apron idea and double-bandana girl's dress. I had considered making the apron for myself, but opted instead to sew something special for Hayden. Since I only had one bandana (I was so close to asking my sister for hers), I altered the original apron design to turn it into a child's size dress. Here's how I did it:
