My grandmother passed away in 2004, several months after my youngest child was born. Among the piles of her clothes that I took home with me, I found a blue and white flowered nightgown. It immediately became one of my very favorites - the fabric, the style, the blue flowery ruffle at the bottom, and most of all, the memories. I wore it during that first year that I was nursing my baby and thought about my grandmother (I called her "MowMow") quite often. One day, I stepped on the hem and tore the neckline. I stitched it back together, but then it happened again. After about the third time I repaired it, I decided to just put it away and figure something out later on. I thought I might get some coordinating fabric and make a new neckline to go with the swishy skirt part that I loved so much.
And then I ran across this tutorial. It's for making a little girl's dress out of a vintage pillowcase, but I immediately thought of MowMow's nightgown. I took it out of my bottom drawer where it had been folded and buried underneath piles of my cold-weather jammie pants, scarves, gloves, and hats. With my rotary cutter, I cut away the ravaged neckline, stitched armholes and a top seam, added the ribbon and a little white satin rosebud, and MowMow's nightgown took on a whole new life. It's the perfect size for my Princess. It will be ankle-length right now and the skirt will be very full (perfect for spinning around in giant swirly-skirt circles), but I left enough ribbon inside the seams that her new heirloom nightgown will fit her for quite a few years. I hope that when she wears it, she remembers her great-grandma and how much she loved her.
And then I ran across this tutorial. It's for making a little girl's dress out of a vintage pillowcase, but I immediately thought of MowMow's nightgown. I took it out of my bottom drawer where it had been folded and buried underneath piles of my cold-weather jammie pants, scarves, gloves, and hats. With my rotary cutter, I cut away the ravaged neckline, stitched armholes and a top seam, added the ribbon and a little white satin rosebud, and MowMow's nightgown took on a whole new life. It's the perfect size for my Princess. It will be ankle-length right now and the skirt will be very full (perfect for spinning around in giant swirly-skirt circles), but I left enough ribbon inside the seams that her new heirloom nightgown will fit her for quite a few years. I hope that when she wears it, she remembers her great-grandma and how much she loved her.
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