Rag Bag Rescue - East Dress

A little while back a pretty kaftan came into the charity warehouse.  It was too faded and rubbed at the bound edges to go into one of the shops to sell, so I asked if I could do a transformation on it.  

Here it is before I got to work with the scissors!  The colours are really pretty, and I love the Indian block print type fabric.

Being a kaftan, there was plenty of fabric to work with.  

First I made a little dress from a well-used pattern (McCalls 6059)...

Next, I used some complementary fabric from my stash ( might be yarn-dyed Essex linen)  to make some shorts.  I trimmed the pocket edges with scraps from the kaftan...

...And  changed the cuffs into tie ones, with the facings offering another glimpse of kaftan!

I am still loving using a twin needle for most top-stitching.  All those years I didn't know I could simply thread up two spools from the top to achieve this...

There was still a good deal of fabric left, so onwards and forwards it was to find a pattern I could squeeze onto the remaining bits.  The tiered summer top from my favourite Japanese children's dressmaking book was just the ticket.  

I already managed to sell the dress to the manager of the warehouse, so the charity is a tenner up already.  If I can just sell the other two, I hope I will have made about £30 in total, from one item that would have been worth pennies (or less) in the ragbag.  Hoorah!