Cottage Dresses

That sounds so much nicer than "house dresses," don't you think?
(I have not seen any "Cottage Dresses" for sale around here for homemakers, so if you ever see that phrase written on a label, remember you saw it here first! )
What is a "Cottage Dress?" It is a very comfortable dress, allowing freedom of movement, with the ability to adjust it to be looser if needed. It is made of soft cottons that only get softer with use. It is a pretty, feminine dress, done in colors and prints that make you happy. It is a dress that looks good enough to wear to the post office, but isn't too fancy, so that when the baby spits up on you, the toddler smears jelly on you, the older child plops a mud pie in your lap, etc. that you would have ruined something expensive.

"Cottage Dresses"

I decided to use what was in my stash, and match up what I could to make a complete dress. I chose a pattern that pulled over the head, with no zippers or buttons to fool with, and no gathers. I cut 6 dresses from the same pattern, hoping that I could "assembly line" sew them to some degree, my goal being to be done in a week.

Well, of course it took three weeks longer than I had anticipated.

The patterns I chose were very easy, but the adjustments made to each dress and the details added took extra time. And life must go on whether I am sewing or not... laundry and dishes have to be done and sewing has to wait for spare time.

Professional seamstresses beware: the rest of these posts may curl your hair. I am all for shortcuts in sewing and am not very precise!

Note: I combined two patterns from Butterick, the top from this one and the skirt from another Butterick, that had box pleats instead of gathers to take up fulness in the skirt.