The Sun Quilt dress.

In the early 90's, some of my sisters and I used to occasionally work for our grandfather's shirt company making the swatch booklets of all the fabrics.

Every day on our way to lunch, we would pass this gorgeous children's wear shop. The owners of the shop sat at the back and made the clothes that were sold in the front. They were the coolest, most fun and unique children's clothes I have ever seen. They looked like they used lots of vintage fabrics and they looked like they would be such fun to wear.

At the time I dreamed more about how much fun it would be to work in that shop and sew those great clothes than I did about dressing a kid in them. I didn't think to buy any of those gorgeous clothes because having kids felt like a long way off for me then and I probably assumed they would still be there, sewing and selling those great clothes when I needed them.

But they aren't.

I have googled them over the years but haven't been able to find anything.

This quilted, reversible dress is my ode to Sun Clothing.

I think it is the type of dress those girls would have made.

When I showed it to my Mum, she told me it was the type of dress we wore when we were little.

The other day I went to the fabric shop intending to buy some wadding stuff to quilt a dress with, but when I saw this parka/sleeping bag looking fabric, I couldn't resist.

It was a shortcut but it also made me feel strangely happy and reminiscent of childhood days.

I sewed it to this fabric which I found at the Daylesford Sunday market a few months back.

I cheat quilted it by sewing along the white pre-quilted lines on the blue side.

Then I bound it all in brown.

I love the fact that she is dressed for this freezing cold day but isn't weighed down with a hundred layers.

I think the Sun girls would have liked it too.