Charlie Caftan and Willow Wrap Belt = Ancient Greek Dress

My niece had a request for a sewing project: an ancient Greek dress. And you know I like to indulge her requests (see this velvet and sequined cloak and this harlequin dress based on one of her drawings.)

One of her more recent special interests is Greek mythology... I think her entry point was the musical Epic. At a recent family camping trip she regaled us with tales of the labors of Hercules and the journey of Odysseus. She's particularly fascinated by the concept of sirens. 

For her ancient Greek dress (which we are interpreting very, very loosely), I decided to use a pattern from my stash, the Closet Core Patterns Charlie Caftan, which I've made numerous times before.

I already had the Charlie traced in size 18, View C, which is the full length caftan with the gathered front. I thought that would work well, so that's where I stared.

However, I made a few tweaks: I raised the V-neck on the Charlie Caftan by 3 inches using this tutorial from Closet Core Patterns. 

I also extended the sleeves by about 8 inches, also using a tutorial from Closet Core Patterns. Initially I thought I would add ties to the sleeves to gather them at the shoulder seam, but then I decided that was too fussy. So I sewed elastic into the shoulder seam to gather the sleeves slightly.

I knew I was going to make a gold belt to pair with the dress, so I skipped waist ties and opted for narrow elastic around the waist, starting at either side of the front panel, zigzagged directly to the caftan on the inside.

The fabric I used is a king sized cotton top sheet from the thrift store. It's super soft with a nice drape.

I paired the Charlie Caftan with a Sew House Seven Willow Wrap Belt made from this faux leather knit in metallic gold from Fabric Mart. 

The faux leather knit was a nightmare to sew. I couldn’t press it or even turn the belt tie tubes right side out because it was too sticky. So I ended up making a one-sided belt, backing the main belt pieces with some interfaced cotton. 

But it turned out great for these purposes, in any case!

I made a little gold laurel crown for my niece, too, to complete the outfit. I covered a headband in gold bias tape and then glued gold foil felt leaves onto it. 

I think she liked it! May the gods favor her in her adventures!