This project involved designing and creating a Victorian costume for my eaight-year-old daughter. Her third grade class did a study project about John Muir, which involved a trip to his home in Martinez, California. All the children were expected to dress in period-appropriate clothing for the trip. Also, her class performed a production of Hansel and Gretel using the costumes from the John Muir trip.

At first I was daunted by the task. Not sure what to do, I went to our local Salvation Army store and purchased the following items. The total cost for these items was less than $20.

I knew right away that the eyelet in the white skirt would make a great apron. The edging detail was gorgeous.

I wasn't sure how, but I knew that I wanted to incorporate the lace from the prom-dress somehow into the skirt.

In the end, after days of furious sewing, this is what I came up with.

I removed the long sleeves from one of the blouses and attached them to the other blouse that had the beautiful lacework on the front. I took apart the eyelet skirt and made it into an apron with the help of white ribbons. I removed the bottom six inches of lace from the prom dress skirt and attached it to the bottom of the pink skirt and used a white ribbon to cover the stitching.