Genetics are a wonderful thing. My daughter has inherited, via a random combination of nucleobases zipping around at the moment of conception, not only my teeth (er, sorry about that one, Tyger), my dark hair and pale skin but also - and let me assure you folks, I consider this one to be the most important - my LOVE OF LIBERTY FABRIC!
So when we went to The Fabric Store armed with our copy of New Look 6444, and she pointed out a fetching blue Liberty print and asked if her dress could be made out of that, my answer was somewhere along the lines of "Hell, yeah!"
It's come up rather nice, if I do say so myself!
It was easy to sew, but I did query the way the ruffle elastic was attached. Basically, the pattern instructions asked for you to sew a line of bias binding a few cms down from the ruffle edge, threading in the elastic as you sewed. Once I did this, I asked Tyger to try it on to see if the bodice was the right size (we'd already both agreed that the off-the-shoulder version was a bit too grown up looking for both our likings, so we wanted it to sit on the shoulders, and not easily slip off). So she tried it on, and then we both looked at her reflection in the mirror in dismay.
Me: "Um, honey - I'm not super keen on that wavy edge above the ruffle. Thoughts?"
Tyger: "Can you get rid of it? It's WEIRD!"
Weird, as I've learnt the hard way, holds no currency whatsoever with the tween crowd, so I did what I thought I should do regarding the ruffle in the first place - I made a hem at the top edge of the ruffle, then threaded the elastic into that. No mucking around with bias binding casings if I ever make this again - my way gives a neat finish, which both Tyger and I consider to look much better.
Apart from that design quibble, it was a very easy pattern to put together. Despite the fact it is meant to be her Christmas dress, she has worn it 3 times already, and has already asked for another. That, my friends, is a win! Trust me - those tweens are a tough crowd to please!
Project Details
Pattern - New Look 6444, version D, size 10 (even though she is twelve and tall for her age, she is very slim, so we went for fit rather than length. The length is fine, anyway)
Fabric - 2m Liberty Tana Lawn from The Fabric Store
Notions - Elastic
Tyger and dress - both beautiful. I bought this pattern months ago when it was summer in Denmark - sigh - but never got around to making a dress for Wilma. I will definetely copy your casing idea. Looks so much better than the original imo.
ReplyDeleteShe's your copy, looks so much like you, amazing! Beautiful girl and beautiful dress.
ReplyDeleteShe looks so lovely in a perfect tween way :) Glad you got over that design hitch with the casing (especially since you were using the Liberty!)
ReplyDeleteI love this! I just purchased this pattern to make for my girls. I want it to sit on their shoulders too instead of being off the shoulder. How did you get it to be so nice and taught against her upper body? Did you use less elastic than the elastic guide in the pattern? It gives it almost a square neckline. You did such a great job!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a design flaw. I ended up making a elastic casing at the top. I shortened the elastic as well.
ReplyDeleteI brought this pattern for my granddaughter. I thought I could sew, but this pattern has be baffled to be sure. Should I gather the ruffle and create a casing for the elastic? Of all of the patterns I have followed, this is the worse and it supposedly an easy pattern. Any suggestions you can give me would be greatly appreciated. thank you very much, Karen
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