Feeling Like A Teenager Again!

No, I haven’t had a sudden burst of energy, or a facelift, played Simon and Garfunkel LPs, or spent the afternoon watching a young slim John Nettles playing Bergerac – no, I have just re-used a dress pattern for the fifth time! Back in 1974 I bought this McCall’s pattern for 45p. I made it long [blue and green] and short [lilac] and then in 1979 it was my used for my wedding dress in white satin.

I modified the sleeves, and the neckline – with and without the collar – I really got my money’s worth. Now I am repeating this…

This pattern looks like being equally worth the investment. So far I have converted my ‘Amish housewife dress’ into a cute little skirt, used the fabric from my neighbour Yvonne to make a yellow blouse and a Lilly Pulitzer retro tunic, and Kezzie’s sarong to make a blue cotton dress for Austria [I should mention that other delegates in Salzburg asked to photograph both these last two!]

Now I’ve made another tunic- this time I turned the neck facing to the inside, and cut the armholes deeper and faced them. The fabric is a lovely cool drapey cotton, a gift from my friend Sandie. She said she thought I could do something with the red border print. It is a little ho-hum on the hanger, but Bob says I look “Very Mary Quant” when wearing it. [I wear it with leggings- I’m too old for a mini that short!]

Mary Quant [now in her eighties!] was the designer of my youth, producing clothes which were inexpensive and practical [short, ‘so you could run for the bus more easily’ she once said] Confession – my shortest mini-skirt came in at just twelve inches long. I got told off for wearing it to a Christian Union meeting at Uni! I was [and still am] under five feet tall – it’s not as if I had legs as long as Twiggy’s

My new black border print tunic is one of my 52 Projects – I am determined that any dress fabric gifted to me will be turned promptly into something wearable. Thank you Sandie for your generosity