milk maid

What do you get when you cross a sheet, a doily and an old tablecloth? 

An 'old fashioned dress' of course! 

My lovely little dressing-up-girl has been reading The Chain of Charms series, a story set during Oliver Cromwells Puritan reign in England, telling of the adventures of a Gypsy family. It's written by Kate Forsyth, an Australian author and while there is lots of adventure and magic, theres also a great lot of history - which to me equates to learning! 

Of course, by the time she'd finished the series she was very keen for me to create a Gypsy gown and after a bit of rummaging around in my piles of amassed op shop 'fabrics' and rifling through various story books, we settled on the design. 

When I finished it, I was pretty excited to note that all of the fabrics had been repurposed from second hand items! 

The funky red underskirt is an old polycotton sheet and the light blue over skirt is a tablecloth. I made the bodice from a lovely piece of linen that was languishing in a box of fabrics in our local op shop, and the lining too - another sheet off cut! 

She's wearing a vintage embroidered tray cloth (you know, smaller than a table cloth but bigger than a doily!) and an old peasant style blouse that was in my stash to cut up for something else. 

Even the pattern for the bodice was a vintage op shopped pattern! 

She loves it and has worn it every day...... but sadly (for me) and happily (for her) we have decided that it's not quite the thing for a Gypsy to be wearing. We are sure they would be dressed in old silks, satins and tattered velvets, so it's back to the sewing table and stash for me!! 

This one is now considered just a 17th century country maid dress, the sort to wear when you are picking chamomile flowers for drying or checking on the cows!! 

I love re-using or re-purposing and get really excited when I use up some of the loads of op shopped fabrics that I bring home ...... have I mentioned how much I love fabrics? 

Meine kleinste hat vor kurzer zeit etliche Bücher über Zigeuner  gelesen. Dann natürlich muss man ein Kleid dazu haben.... und Mama macht es schon! Das Kleid ist nicht so schwer zum nähen, aber ich hab wollen alles von mein eigenen Stoff 'stash' brauchen.... und hab es geschafft!! Das rote ist eine altes Leintuch, eine hellblaue Tischdecke war gebraucht für den Überrock, das Oberteil ist ein Stückchen leinen Stoff und auch ihr Kopftuch ist ein besticktes spitzen Deckchen.

Es ist ja toll geworden aber wir denken es schaut nicht so ganz richtig Zigeunerisch aus, sondern mehr wie ein Mädchen aus denn siebzehnten Jahrhundert.... und so machen wir bald noch eines aus samt und Seide und bunte Farben!!