Russian Summer Fun (or Ksenias Favorite Dress)

Required:
Unbleached Osnaburg
Unbleached muslin
Red ribbon, narrow, medium, and wide widths
2 snaps
2 hooks and eyes
Stabilizer
Red embroidery floss
Tiny red buttons (optional)

This is one of my little girl’s favorite dresses. It’s based on the linen-look girls’ dresses which are popular in Russia.
Start with some unbleached Osnaburg. You can usually find it sold with the muslin.  It is traditionally linen, but I’m using an inexpensive cotton. It’s a very wide weave, so it’s cool in the summer, but it also ravels. I find it much easier to finish the edges before I mess with them.

Step 1 Make the skirt

So we begin by making a simple circle skirt. There are tutorials all over the internet, so I’m not going to reinvent the wheel (here is a good one: http://whatthecraft.com/circle-skirt-tutorial-version-2-0-new-and-improved/ ). So begin by making a circle skirt out of the Osnaburg, but do not add a waistband.

Now, measure the edge of the skirt carefully and mark it with three parallel lines, each about an inch apart. It’s important to keep these lines straight. Now, use the guidelines to sew a medium ribbon around the 1” mark. Then, just above, use your sewing machine to do a ring of decorative stitching. You will need to use some stabilizer to keep the Osnaburg from getting stuck in the machine. If you don’t have any on hand, clean newsprint works well for this and tears right off. Finally, sew a row of narrow ribbon to the upper line.

Comments

[happy limes]

Love this, and cotton dresses. The details really make it.