made this up out of a beach towel, working out the pattern by drawing around a mix of a hooded top and a dress she already had, after lusting after something similar in the boden catalogue and missing out in the sale. i have to say now that this is waaay cuter than anything i’ve seen rtw (plus well cheap).

being blissfully ignorant of the basics of garment construction i cut the front/back and sleeves as single pieces, so i only had to join along the side seams, back of hood, then hood to neck.

had already cut the pieces when i remembered my machine was broken, so is all hand sewn (very badly, lol). was quite cunning and managed to use the towel selvedge for all the hems - sleeves, hood and bottom. although this means it’s straight rather than curved along the bottom edge it’s not at all obvious when worn. the seams are all tucked under inside (i’m sure there’s a proper term for that…), so they’re lovely and smooth against the skin. hadn’t accounted for the stretch in the hooded top i adapted it from and once it was made found it wouldn’t go over her head. hastily added a slash in the neckline.

this has given brilliant service over the last 6 months as a beach dress, post-swim wrap and dressing gown, hoping it will still fit for another 6 months at least (cropped sleeves are trendy i tell you :)).