American Gothic Dress - pitchfork not included

I find myself wearing dresses quite a lot. Not so much the fancy kind (although I do love me a nice silky frock every now and then), but the good old utilitarian, throw-on for a throw-down sort. Something I can get muddy in. Yet pretty too. Something that would have made the couple in American Gothic put down that pitchfork and maybe do a jig on the front porch.


The Prairie Girl Dress by the pattern company Favorite Things was just what I wanted. A relatively easy pattern that I could figure out on my own, it's a slip-over-the-head dress with ties in the back. This also means that it's pretty forgiving around the midsection and I can make it as loose as my ice cream habit necessitates.



The ruffly sleeves were easy to do after I got the hang of gathering in my last dress project. I also made the optional dickie and sewed it into the dress to keep it from flapping out of place.

The fabric is from a local quilting store. It's from the Nouveau collection by Moda. Ocean Blue Garden - here's a close up.




I'm pretty happy with the dress. It came out just as I had envisioned and it's light and airy enough to wear on even the muggiest days here in South Florida. It's the perfect thing to wear when gathering freshly laid eggs from my chickens. That is, if I had chickens - maybe someday.