Summer nightgown

I've been away for most of August and resolutely not on line. It's been a great break. But I'm happy to be back home now and to be sewing, refashioning and crafting again. And blogging. 

Most of my refashion projects at present are about getting my little cabbages ready for back to school: turning too-short dresses into skirts, letting down the hems on trousers, etc. Fun but nothing very exciting.

However, I did make myself a nice summer nightgown back at the end of July. I'm still wearing it even now, as the weather hasn't quite turned autumnal in Paris yet. I just love it, so very comfy and pretty yet modest. 

The sheet wasn't from my husband's family, but rather from a friend of my mother-in-law. The sheet is from that woman's mother, so is probably from the 20s or 30s. It has a beautiful monogram embroidered on it and lovely crochet lace trim.

It was enormous, so I cut it in half horizontally. I used the half with the lace trim and the monogram. The lace trim became the bottom hem. I sewed the sides of the fabric together, making a seam up the back of the nightgown. And then, as it was of course still way too wide, I make a large inverted box pleat in the front, out of which the monogram peeks. Finally, I used two strips of trim that the same woman gave me to make straps.

Et voilà! A vintage French nightie. Sweet dreams...