Peasant Dress – Sewing Black (part 1)

A couple of weeks ago, I showed  you a sneak peak of what I was working on, remember, it was something black?  Yes, I know the blog title gives it away, I couldn’t come up with anything clever  but that’s what it is, a black peasant dress.

Now why a black dress?  It is probably not something one would normally find in a little girl’s wardrobe, right?  Or in the shops for that matter.  You see, for the last few years, the kids and their teachers from church wore the colours of faith (or salvation) for Encouragement Day.  Last year, it was yellow (I made a ruffle top) and this year, black.

source (click image to enlarge)

With nothing black in her wardrobe (except for her leggings), I sewed this Brooke Dress pattern from Little Lizard King.  I’m pretty sure after the pillowcase dress, the peasant dress would have to be the second easiest to whip up.  Options to customise the pattern are only limited by your imagination and creativity.

I opted for the dress length version with capped sleeves and an elastic belt to break up the solid black and give the dress a bit more shape.

I saw someone at church wearing a plain black elastic belt and was inspired to make one for this outfit.  Mine is made with the widest elastic I had on hand – about 1.5″, then I just made a long fabric tube out of Paula Prass’s (Soiree Party Animal Black) on one side and Michael Miller’s (Ta Dot Candy) on the other.  The belt is then fastened with a couple of snaps and because it stretches, little miss also wore this as a headband (though a little bit wide for her head).

And to complete the outfit with some pop of colour, I made this fabric flower from my scraps which she wore as a brooch on her belt at church but then decided that she would prefer to wear it as a headband.

So what do you think of this black dress?  Mind you, she hasn’t wanted to wear it since, so I guess little girls aren’t naturally attracted to black dresses.

Linking to