Okay, I know I finished up these dresses a while ago. But life gets away with me very quickly when 5 kids are home all day long. That means my only me time is after they go to bed and even though the SP sleeps almost all night long, her slightly older brother loves to stay up until 9:30 or 10:00, because he wants mommy all to himself. I told myself that I had to get this write-up done before I started trying to alter my next project, and since I'm really excited about it, I got to do what gots to be done. I made two dresses for this one and have an idea for altering it for a smocked insert in the lower bodice. But since I don't smock (yet!) and I don't really have a model in this size anymore, it will have to wait.
So my two posts about this dress are here and here, and this last one to wrap it all together and make it all look pretty. This might sound convoluted as I try to describe what I did, but there are two dress with two different alterations. So the first dress I made for my older daughter will be called "Dress 1" and the second for the baby will be "Dress 2"
Dress 1 fit my older girl very well, the waist was not snug at all, gave just the right amount of room for her to move around in. I did lengthen the skirt by 3 inches and the flounce by 2 inches. I also cut off about 10 inches from the lower bodice to put the waist at her waist, rather than poofing all the way to her knees. Oh yeah, I also put the belt in as a waistband. The main change in this one is the poofiness, it did not make sense to have it poof that much and then put a belt on top of that.
Dress 2 was for my 4 month old baby. I did print the dress out at half size (2 pages per page) and this fit her size range very well. I took out the chemisette, neckline binding, belt, skirt, lining, and inner sleeves. That sure does sound like a lot, but what was left was really cute and will fit her for a lot longer (at least a few more months). I did add a decorative stitch on the bias band at the neckline to add a little bit to the dress, after taking off the chemisette, it seemed to yell for something to be there instead.
I used a seersucker cotton fabric with a floral print and then a solid of the same type of fabric for the piping. I did add a placket for buttons for a closer as the neckline was very snug on her (PIT kept fiddling with it). My sewing level is intermediate, I guess, since I have been sewing for several years (almost 8 exactly in two weeks).
Pattern Review Checklist:
- Pattern Description: #0501 child's dress
- Pattern Sizing: fits age 3-5
- Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing it? Once I removed the poof and dropped the belt into the waistband, no it only sort of did, it would probably have helped it look similar if I had kept the belt apart (on Dress 1). Dress 2 didn't even have the belt.
- Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, I really enjoyed putting together the sleeves, the double sleeve looked great on Dress #1
- What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I liked the sleeve and the instructions were very well put together, but I really didn't like the suggested poofiness
- Fabric Used: I used a cotton seersucker (I think) and I'm not sure on the yardage since I made the piping and ended up cutting some off the dress and extending other areas as well and also made a complete second dress.
- Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Minors on the first dress, but lots on the second dress see above notes. I also sewed the band differently than the instructions called for, I sewed it all together and the pattern called for the top to be sewn in and then after the dress was done to decide on finished length of band and hem it.
- Would you recommend this pattern to others? Yes, with an admonition to check bodice lining length and then poof just a little bit.
- Conclusion: This is a very cute dress, in picture and reality, it just needs to have less poof and to keep the waist at the waist, or just slightly lower as the picture looks like it has the belt at the waist and on my 6 year old it looked like it was a little bit high
- Pattern Name #0501 Child's dress
- Sewer’s Skill Level: Advance, Intermediate, Beginner: I am an intermediate seamstress
- Pattern Rating: 1-Not a Fan, 2 – So-So, 3 – Good/Average, 4-Better than Average, 5-I LOVED IT! and why? 4-I really liked this pattern, as it is and with my adaptations for the smaller one, but I had a day and a half of major frustration over that stupid bodice bottom poofing like crazy
- What skill level would someone need to sew this pattern and why? An advanced beginner could sew this, the lapped seams makes it easier to work together and the instructions are clear, just because of my areas of frustration do I say it is not for the brand new beginner
- Were the instructions easy to follow? If not, what needs to be changed? Yes they were
- How was the fit/sizing? Did it correspond to what you thought? The fit was right on, my PIT is tall and skinny for her age, she usually measures as a 3 around and a 5 up and down and this fit her around perfectly, but I did add to the length for her height
- Did you make any pattern alterations? If so, what alterations did you make? Where they fit or design alterations? I made a few alterations on Dress 1 in length and also in design, I took out the poof and put the belt as a waistband. In Dress 2 I did a lot of alterations, I took out the chemisette, neck band bias finish, belt, skirt, inner sleeve and the bodice lining. From the half size pattern, I did not alter sizes, but the flounce and band were cut to be proportional to the whole skirt (which really was just cut the right width and then from selvedge to selvedge)
- Other notes: I did also change how I sewed the band onto the flounce. I did it all in one seam, rather than sewing one edge and then finishing the dress and then hemming the band.
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