Sophie is really into woodland creatures. I didn't blog about her actual birthday party (just the birthday day) back in January, mostly because I was super disorganised, but also because it was postponed thanks to a potential COVID outbreak that sent all of Brisbane into a snap three day lock down. Just when you thought the drama from 2020 was over, there it was reminding us not to get comfortable in the first week of 2021.
Anyway, Sophie had this great squirrel cake, as well as other woodland themed foods (watermelon hedgehog, owl veggie platter, mushroom cupcakes and meringue mice). So it's not surprise that when choosing fabric for her dress, she chose one that was covered in woodland animals. (Yes, these photos of the dress are un-ironed. Don't judge me.)
I used the same pattern that I did for Rachel's dress, but the next size group up (the patterns come in 4, 5, 6, and then 7, 8, 9). I've been trying to think more critically about store bought patterns of late. Lots of reading blogs that go on and on about how you need to measure the person and then make to the measurements. That the "size" is just a number and because we are all uniquely made, none of us (or very few) will actually fit the given measurements for the designated "size", thus the importance of ignoring the sizing and using measurements.
I had started to see their point when I noticed that my mum always made each dress for my girls exactly as the pattern said, but often they came out really roomy, or long enough, but swimming on the top. Why make a size 6 for Rachel, who is six, when it won't fit? Why not make the size 5, just longer, so it does fit? It's the beginning of a revolution.
I did measure Rachel and make her dress to her measurements by adjusting the pattern slightly, but when it came to Sophie's the pattern was actually different! Being a bigger size set, the bodice now had some strange curve things happening towards the bottom, probably to allow for the non-existent hips that my 8 year old was supposed to have. Ludicrous. Sophie also measured with in the ranges for two of the three measurements (bust, waist and hip), but at least 10cm out for the third.
Given that I was trying the pattern for the first time (weird hip shaping and all), and the measurements were so different, I only made small adjustments and hoped for the best. I think I based it on the size 7. If I were making it again, I would completely re-draw the bodice, because the ridiculous hip curve was just wrong. It probably didn't help that I'd only bought a meter of the fabric, and it turns out that's not enough any more to get a complete dress for my 8 year old. There was a lot of creative cutting, and I ended up using the contrast fabric around the waist which, to me, only highlighted the problem.
I feel the regular person, who didn't make this dress, would not notice, but to me, it's super annoying. Even more so because Sophie loves it and wears it a lot. Oh well. I'm also critical of the flutter sleeves, which I feel have the right amount of flutter, but stick out too far and don't go round the arm scyc nearly enough. Is everyone this critical of things they make themselves? Is it just this dress, or is it just me? Not sure.
I lined it with some scrap fabric from skirt making, and at the end of the day, it's a fun wearable dress for this girl who loves her woodland animals. So I guess it's a win? I've also learnt a stack about trusting my instincts when it comes to looking at patterns (especially patterns for little girls who are very straight up and down kind of body shapes) and I practiced putting in zips again. Not a total loss then.
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