Still Repurposing: McCalls M6331

I am still hard at work on my McCalls romper repurposed from an ugly Burda dress.  I did a few more hours of work on it last night, and now I have basically everything done but the finicky stuff - attaching the bodice to the shorts, hem, zipper.

I couldn't find lining in the right color of purple, so I used this Robert Kaufman Kona cotton in Lagoon.  It was $5.99/yard and I only needed one.  I've never used Robert Kaufman fabric before and I am definitely going to be using it again.  It's so sturdy and thick and irons like a dream.  It's vastly better than Joann's Symphony broadcloth and only $2 more/yard.



I mentioned in my last post that the bodice is self-lined, meaning that you cut 4 of each bodice piece out of your main fabric and use two of the pieces as lining.  Truthfully, I don't really ever see the point to that, especially if your fabric is a print on a light background where it would possibly show through.  I usually just use a contrasting cotton.  In this case, there is a piece of the lining that folds over and is visible on the outside.  To remedy that, I cut just the bodice points out of some scraps of my seersucker and pieced it together with the lining.



Then I placed my pattern piece on top just to make sure it was perfect, and just trimmed off a little excess.



Here's what it looks like from the inside:



And outside. Pretty, hey?



Lastly, I made the lining for the shorts.



Shorts are done! I even have the left leg bias-taped and ready to be hemmed. Then I ran out of purple thread. I'm hoping to have everything finished tonight save for the zipper and hemming the legs.



In the spirit of repurposing, I also gave a makeover to a little dresser I found in the alley.  It was sad and scuffed and needed some love.





And after! A few coats of paint and some new knobs and my sewing desk has a mate. I'm going to put all my fabric in it, which is currently precariously piled on a wire rack.





Happy Repurposing!