Heather posing behind a cafe along Wilshire Blvd on a nice, sunny day! Thursday April 11, 2008
Sing to the music and "The Beat Goes On"...
Chorus
And the gathers go round, the tiers go on
Needles keep pounding a rhythm to the plate,
La de da de de, la de da de da
The bodice posed no outrage, uh huh
Gathering has turned the page, uh huh
The three tiers became the thing uh huh
Needle bopping became the king uh huh
Chorus
Pattern Description
Child's and Girls' dress or tunic and capri pants. The dress has back wrap ties.
Size
3,4,5,6 I made the "6" and it barely fit over my 6 year old's head!
Fabric
Printed Diego fabric from le Wal Marche.
Thursday, April 10. Heather posing behind a cafe along Wilshire Blvd on a nice, sunny day!
Likes/Dislikes
I liked the upbeat style of this dress. The bodice and midriff give this dress a trendy edge. It also reminds me a little of those fun dresses used for square dancing.
There is something about gathered tiers that appeal to little girls who are at the stage where they like to play dress up. In the current fashion scene, I also see ruffles and tiers in outfits for us ummmm, "older" girls.
The dress has no zipper, which would make this dress simple to construct, but is offset by the seemingly endless gathering and stitching of the tiers! The gathered tiers took more time to construct, maybe because I have not made a dress with a lot of gathering in awhile!
The back of the dress is slightly loose for Heather, but the back wrap ties pull the look together. I feared that if the dress were more fit, she would have difficulty slipping it over her big head! She liked the dress and showed her enthusiasm by making several "spin" tests.
After basting the zipper twice and stitching the zipper per the instructions, the pants were still too large for my daughter!
Directions
They were clear and straightorward along with helpful illustrations for an advanced beginner and beyond. I made sure I transferred the dot markings (for the two located on the center front of the bodice where the left and right piece are to be stitched together, the strap placement, tie placement pocket placement for the pants)and notches to the cut out fabric.
The bodice (front and back) and midriff require lining. I lined the bodice and the midriff with the same fabric. The tricky part is lining the back of the bodice. After I lined the front of the bodice, I placed the back self-lining over the front self-lining (the back of the bodice is the bottom layer, right sides together with the front of the bodice) and stitched the armholes and along the top edge (catching the outer edges of the back of the bodice), being CAREFUL not to catch the straps (they were folded in) and the front self-lining.
Modifications/alterations
I took in the straps another 1/2" inch to raise the neckline.
I took out the side zipper (Heather hates it!). To compensate for the lack of a zipper, I added elastic pieces to the front and back to decrease the waist circumference and took in the side seams.
Conclusion
One of this type of dress is fine for now because I spent more time than expected for what seemed a "simple" dress. Nevertheless, I have been pretty impressed with the Lizzie McGuire line for cute and age appropriate styles. The appreciation and reaction are worth it!
