"La Jolla" (“ lah HOY-ya”) is a simple DIY dress with a lot of California soul. This straight shift dress with macramé overlay is an easy-living, flip-flops and popsicles kind of summertime piece to wear anywhere, anytime fun is to be had: as a swimsuit cover-up, as a dancing dress to the end of the school year party, or as a flexible, easy-to-throw-in-a-suitcase piece to take on vacation. Made up in all white, I think La Jolla is pretty enough to wear to a beach wedding. La Jolla is a beautiful coastal town near San Diego. “La Jolla” is a corruption of the Spanish word “joya”, which means “jewel.” I find this to be a gem of a dress, because with a little cutting and polishing, some cruddy old tee shirts or a clump of boring plain knit fabric can really shine. “Jollas” also happens to be a genus of South American jumping spiders. Since this dress has that SoCal spirit, but also sort of has a spider web look to it, I’ve decided to call it “La Jolla”.

This design is sized for girls, ages/sizes 5 to 12. The design concept is great for teens and women, however, the knotting has not been calculated over those size sets within these instructions.

ALL PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT NAHOW.DE, a non-profit skills training and life-improvement program for Enwen, Cameroon.