Louisa's Dresses

I gave Jeff a stuffed dog when he left for college back in the 1980s. He named her Louisa. After I started making quilts, I got in the habit of occasionally making dresses for her that match the quilts I've made. The last outfit I finished was in May 2012.

In January 2010, I finished a quilt Jeff designed for me, shortly before we moved to Oregon and I never had a chance to make a matching dress, though I had planned to.

Finally, this past week, I decided to make the matching dress.

It includes a lavender slip and dark purple bloomers.


Also, when I cleaned my sewing room during the winter, I found a square dance skirt that I'd abandoned because it was too small.

Rather than just toss it in the scrap bag, I thought I might be able to remodel it into a dress for Louisa. It took me two days to finish it. I'm actually pretty proud of this one because all I had was the skirt and an extra pile of strips. I pieced those strips together to make fabric large enough to cut out the sleeves and yoke.