let's continue back to school week with what nora and etta wore last year.

the instant i saw the library dress pattern by oliver + s i knew nora and etta would love the faux wrap style. however the back presented a problem as nora and etta are past the age where dresses that button up the back are practical.

at that point i was pretty confident i could alter the pattern to close with a zipper, but when i saw this tutorial post over on the oliver + s blog i had no excuse. after first making it one time as instructed for maya (will blog about that rendition next week), I tried my hand at a zippered version.

it turned out fantastic. (as have both subsequent versions, one of which was the show & tell dress in corduroy.)

so fantastic i altered the pattern further and added a hem facing instead of the standard fold and stitch hem.

the fabric is a paisley quilting cotton i bought with the girls when i took them to the fabric depot in portland, oregon that spring. the accent fabric is a yellow kona solid from stonemountain & daughter in berkeley, california.

shortly after i finished the dresses nora and etta came to visit in a very special way: taking the the train from portland, oregon to oakland, california with my mom and spending the night in a sleeper car. they spent five days with us going to fairyland, picking zucchini from our garden, and reading books in the 'hiding spot' (our closet).