It’s been a really, really (really) long time since I sewed anything for myself. Most of the things that I make are either gifts for friends or relatives (or babies of friends or relatives) or clothing for my children. Over the summer I also sewed a bridesmaid dress for my sister, and while I was working on it I started lamenting the fact that I hadn’t made myself a dress in years.

One of my favorite dresses to wear on a weekday was this soft green one I have had for over 5 years, but since it’s so well loved it’s starting to show its age. I’ve been thinking about making a replica for a long time, but I finally got up enough motivation to actually do it. Taaadaaaaa!

The original dress was so comfortable and so easy to wear – looks like real clothing but feels like pajamas is my gold standard – so I couldn’t resist making one that fit exactly the same. I just pulled some cotton out of my fabric closet (hoarder stash?) to make this. It’s a quilting cotton so it obviously doesn’t have the exact same drape as the original, but it works for me.

Since I never zipped or unzipped my original dress (it had a hidden side zip) I decided to leave it off, and I thought that the tie sash might be a little much with the busy fabric pattern so I left that off as well. It was such a quick and easy project – just a simple trace and cut and an afternoon’s worth of sewing. It’s the kind of project that makes me wonder why I don’t make more things for myself… especially when I can have a new version of my most comfortable and long since out-of stores dress in just a single afternoon without even leaving the house. I think I need to make more of these…