Irene

My Great-Grandmother was named Irene.  She was hilariously funny, didn't take crap from anyone, and called it like she saw it.   She lived in a different era than we do today - one that managed to merge fashion with comfort in a delightful way.  Irene never wore pants.  Ever.  In the 24 years we were a part of each others lives, I only saw her wear dresses.  There were two kinds of dresses in her closet: Church Dresses and House Dresses.

I love a good summer dress.  One that's light, fun, washable, comfortable to wear running errands, yet fitted enough to wear out for dinner.  So I started a quest to create the Perfect House Dress.  There was much trial and error, but I think this is it.

I call it the Irene Dress.

Irene 1.0 and 2.0, plus Irene Jr.

It's a simple style with rounded, retro-inspired collar.  Pullover with tie at the back.  A bit of elastic in a casing gives the shaping, combined with pleating detail.  There is a small pleat at the back neck, too, but I forgot to take a picture of the backside.  Sorry!

Collar detail and pleating

The Irene Dress began as Simplicity 2029, which is a sleeveless top.  The collar and front pleating is directly from that pattern.  Everything else is my own design, including additional length and shaping, back pleat, and the empire waist with elastic casing.

My daughter wanted one too.  Instead of trying to downsize my pattern, I bought McCalls 6501 for hers.  It's similar, but without the empire waist or pleats.

I remember my Great-Grandmother for something other than her dresses, too.

Cookies!

She always always always had tea and cookies ready to share.

Miss you, Grandma.