She chose the little stars fabric and recently picked up the stars and stripes fabric (from le Wal Marche), which would be great as a contrast for the tie:
"Campaign" Buttons on the back:
Youngest female presidential candidate:Pattern Description
"Children's and Girls' Tops, Dresses, Shorts, and Capri Pants: Tops and dresses have self-faced bodices, gathered skirts and back button closures...." I sewed view F, dress with contrast straps and contrast self fabric ties.
Size
Girls' sizes 3-4-5-6. I sewed Heather a size "6".
Fabric
Printed cotton from le Wal Marche
Directions
They seem somewhat cluttered due to the directions overlapping for certain views. But overall, they are easy to follow along with sufficient illustrations. If you have sewn dresses before, you could skim over the directions and rely more on the illustrations.
The shoulder straps are first basted to each back piece of the bodice at the marked dots.
When the bodice back and bodice front are sewn to the corresponding self-facing pieces (right sides of the fabric together, along the upper and armhole edges) there is an opening between two dots at the upper corners of the bodice where the straps are to be attached, and the back opening edges are stitched in a 1 1/2" seam which serves as part of the the back facing for the buttons and buttonholes. The fabric is folded twice over foldlines to self-face the back edge of the skirt for more buttons and buttonholes!
Likes/Dislikes
* I like the contrasting tie. I just wish I had cut four from the contrast fabric, instead of cutting a pair of the fabric used for the entire dress and a pair from the contrast fabric.
* I like the self-faced bodices.
* Heather and I were not too fond of the fully buttoned back. The dress reminds me of a little coat dress from the back! She preferred a dress that she can easily slip on and remove with minimal assistance.
* I did not think that the fully buttoned back collaborated well with a fully gathered skirt.
Modifications
I did not rely on the length of the straps. I had Heather try on the dress to make the necessary adjustments, otherwise the bodice would be too low for her.
Would you recommend this pattern? Would you sew it again?
I have mixed feelings about this pattern. I would sew the shorts or capris, but not the tops or another dress from this pattern. I prefer McCall's 5089 for a nice, quick and easy dress which, in my opinion, has a more appealing style for your finicky fashion fanatic.
Conclusion
The dress seemed to differ from the sketches on the envelope, but overall it's not very difficult to make. The contrast tie adds more character to the dress or top.
