Christmas present idea

Here’s an idea for a girl’s Christmas gift which won’t break the bank:

This is a picture of my friend Ineke’s wee girl, Bella. She’s wearing a 1980s cotton frock I reconditioned for her, which took no time at all to complete.

Firstly, I removed the white broderie anglaise Peter Pan collar with my trusty quick-unpick (it was looking very Mare Winningham in St Elmo’s Fire), as well as dated puffy sleeves and too many bows to mention. Then I re-hemmed the edges of the collar and sleeves and added these cute Bird Textiles buttons as a feature to the front. The petticoat I kept cause I thought it looked cute.

Voila: one updated summer frock. Bella’s wearing it over a long-sleeved shirt.

The dress cost a mere $4 from my local Vinnies, and the buttons were $3 each. I handwashed it in my favourite Eucalyptus-scented detergent, ironed and wrapped it up in white butcher’s paper, and tied ribbon in a big pink bow around the lot.