A dress for my first-grader

Hello all!

My little girl is not so little anymore and she is starting school this autumn. Although it is still July my thoughts are already in the autumn and I have started to plan clothes for the cooler months. S has grown several inches since the spring and I’m afraid that almost everything in her closet is too small. This has given me an opportunity to sew as much as I want!

I couldn’t resist these wonderful geometric prints that I encountered at Kangaskapina fabric shop in Helsinki. (Btw. they say they also deliver also outside Finland. You’ll just have to send them e-mail!) I knew just the pattern for them: Ottobre design 1/2016 pattern number 19. Rhythm.

This pattern has been on my to-do-list for a while. I like the modern loose fit, the contrast fabric on the pockets and the sleeves and the narrower hem. I did not follow the instructions very carefully and thus ended up doing the pockets in a little bit different way. I lined the pockets and finished the edge with my cover stitch machine. I also did one deliberate change and turned the pleats at the hem to darts. I think that the darts will be more durable and I like the look of them more.

A small drawback in the design of this dress is the zipper at the back which makes it a little bit more difficult to put on. This lead also to a difficult task of pattern-matching which I failed horribly. I was too lazy to fix it, though.

At the side seams the pattern-matching went a little bit better but the contrast lining of the pockets went all wonky despite my efforts. Well, in RTW-dresses that kind of pattern matching is never done, so no-one will probably care.

S says that the dress is nice and warm. She likes the soft feeling of the fabric and thinks that the pattern and the colours are nice and calm. The pockets seem to be a welcome bonus. She is looking forward to wearing it at school. The maker of the dress is happy when the user is happy!

More school-related makes are coming, soon and there is at least one dress for myself that I have already cut. The summer is nice, but I am always super-excited for the autumn fashions! Happy sewing for you all!