let's continue back to school week with what nora and etta wore last year.
the instant i saw the library dress pattern by oliver + s i knew nora and etta would love the faux wrap style. however the back presented a problem as nora and etta are past the age where dresses that button up the back are practical.
at that point i was pretty confident i could alter the pattern to close with a zipper, but when i saw this tutorial post over on the oliver + s blog i had no excuse. after first making it one time as instructed for maya (will blog about that rendition next week), I tried my hand at a zippered version.
it turned out fantastic. (as have both subsequent versions, one of which was the show & tell dress in corduroy.)
so fantastic i altered the pattern further and added a hem facing instead of the standard fold and stitch hem.
the fabric is a paisley quilting cotton i bought with the girls when i took them to the fabric depot in portland, oregon that spring. the accent fabric is a yellow kona solid from stonemountain & daughter in berkeley, california.
shortly after i finished the dresses nora and etta came to visit in a very special way: taking the the train from portland, oregon to oakland, california with my mom and spending the night in a sleeper car. they spent five days with us going to fairyland, picking zucchini from our garden, and reading books in the 'hiding spot' (our closet).
at the end of the trip we sent them back (via train because my mom is a champ) with two dresses for the first day of school a few weeks later.
it was a big day for etta too, as she was starting at a new preschool.
as with kindergarten the year before nora decided to bookend first grade by wearing the dress on the last day of school as well.
love,
aunt maggie
