Adorable fabric.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), it’s already been fashioned into a dress. An adorable little full-skirted sundress, in fact. Are you surprised?
Pre-stitched Sundress
We are back in our hometown for the weekend, and my hometown Sewing Friend suggested that we check out a new vintage clothing shop in her neighbourhood. So we abandoned our spouses with the children and dashed off for a few minutes of precious child-free time at Tikkityboo Vintage, a teensy tiny, exquisitely elegant little store in a sadly-dilapidated stretch of minor commercial real-estate. It’s one of those areas that looks just like that really cool, chic part of town with all the nifty boutiques, about ten years before everyone realized how nifty and chic it really is. Except in this case, it’s been like this for as long as I can remember. Which is a pity, because the other street of chic, stylish boutiques in town has long since lost most of its eclectic charm under a swarm of high-end clothing shops and hair-salons.
Amidst the racks of gorgeous (and not so gorgeous) vintage dressses, I found a lovely flocked-print circle skirt, unfortunately with a waistband that *might* have fit Tyo, and this cute little dress, which fits me just about perfectly. I’m not convinced it’s *especially* vintage—the label is Made In China and identical to something that you’d find in a modern garment, and nothing about the construction suggests any great age. But it’s cute, the fabric is adorable, and the price was low.
In need of repair.
There’s a tiny bit of discoloration on the sash that hopefully a bit of a soak with some Oxy-Clean will do away with, and it needs a touch of repair at the bottom of the bodice. And while the weather is actually fairly good for May Long*, it’s not quite strappy-sundress weather, so I won’t be wearing it right away.
But I still think it’s really, really cute, and I get to have that warm supporting-local-small-business glow, which I rarely get in my usual haunts, as I live in a fairly modern suburb that is the natural habitat of big box stores and chain everything. Unfortunately I’m not likely to have any sewing to report for several more days, unless Sewing Friend and I manage to dodge our husbands again and duck off to the fabric store…
*The long weekend in May in Canada is officially Victoria Day, when we celebrate the Queen’s birthday, but most people call it May Long. It’s the official (usually miserable) start of camping season, and is generally celebrated with bush parties and snowstorms.
Tanit-Isis Sews 
Have a good visit home. I get to work all weekend. (sulk) Oh well, our weather is better than yours. 23 and sunny right now.
Amaze also works like a hot damn with stains. I have been known to use it and Oxy-Clean to soak out stains. Amaze is an enzyme cleaner and works on protein stains, blood, gravy, grass stains. Walmart (Canada) sells it. It doesn’t take much. I soak stubborn stains for up to 24 hours.
Boo on working long weekends—especially when the weather is good. And thanks for the stain tips. 😉
I couldn’t have resisted this fabric, loooove a border print!
Yeah! It was definitely the fabric that sold me on it.
Just yesterday I was wondering when you’d be back on this side of the line, and lo and behold here you are (sort of – wrong city). Close but no cigar, considering the reason I got wondering is because I have some fabric that I think you might like and I was going to try to get it to you. I suppose it would be worthwhile to establish whether you even want it…
Yur. We will be moving back for good come the fall—this was just a very brief run home.
Nice! I foresee dancing in your future 🙂
Cute! Even if you didn’t make it, it is a really pretty fabric and nice dress.
Thanks! I thought so. 🙂
That’s a pretty dress, but thanks to the size of the picture I was convinced it was for one of your girls! You’ll have to model it for us. I use Biz rather than Oxyclean for soaking stains, but my gold standard is the spray Shout formula. It gets out most stains with minimal damage to the fabric — and I know this because all my kids use their shirts as napkins or handkerchiefs.
Lol—oops! No, I promise it is full Tanit-size. Thanks for the stain tips.
Do y’all call it May 2-4? That’s what people here call it. And I really hope you’re having the kind of weather we are. Best long weekend in living memory.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard May-2-4 out here. Ah, those regional variations ;). Our weather was decent, not as warm as one might wish but mostly sunny and good to be out in. As far as I’m concerned it’s a good May Long if it doesn’t snow or pour the whole time. 🙂
A guide to understanding this exchange, for non-Canadians: Queen Victoria’s birthday was May 24. Originally it was celebrated on the day, then Victoria Day was defined as the last Monday before May 25, which makes it a long weekend. Hence “Victoria Day long weekend”, “May long [weekend]”, and “May 24th holiday” (even when it’s not May 24).
Also, beer comes in boxes of 24, which is called “a 2-4”. The May holiday marks the beginning of camping season, and thus the beginning of the “going out into a provincial park and drinking loudly beside a campfire” season.
8-D
Excellent synopsis. (And a lot more informed than I had ever bothered to be about it. Although perhaps I just didn’t spend enough time at bush parties as a teenager…)