Pattern Description
From the Project Runway series: "Child's knit dress with skirt and sleeve varations."
Fabric
'Camp Rock' printed cotton. I should have paid attention to the pattern envelope to see that it required stretch fabrics. Hmmm.
It is apparent that the Camp Rock-Jonas Brother craze (joining Hannah M.) has entered our household. Yup, my 6-year-old is a fan of the Jonas Brothers.
Nowadays, I guess there are not much young, wholesome and cute male singing groups to choose from as compared to when I was a younster (the Bay City Rollers, Jackson 5, the Osmond Brothers, the Monkees. to name a few). Kevin Jonas reminds me of cross between a young Greg Brady and a young Tom Hanks...
I laughed when somebody mentioned in her blog about the Jonas Brothers potentially being related to this legendary singer/songwriter
The Original Jonas Rocker
A fashionable solitary rocker. Yup, cool hair, nice lapels and placket.
This has not made headlines yet, but who's that girl?...Auntie Jonas?
Size
Girls' 3-4-5-6-7-8.
Likes
* Versatile pattern because it enables you to select a style element (sleeve, skirt) of your choice to create many unique styles.
There are three types of sleeve variations: puffed short or three-quarters length with lantern cuffs, or sleeveless. The front bodice is used for both the sleeved and sleevelss versions. For the sleeved versions, front and back upper yoke pieces are attached to the front bodice and the 'high' back upper bodice to form a square neckline. The sleeveless version goes with the neck band or shoulder straps attached to the 'low' back bodice with an elasticized band at its upper edge.
There are three types of skirts which are all gathered upper edges: standard skirt with hemmed bottom, standard skirt with bubble-hem, and the double tiered skirt.
There is also the option to add a ruffle at the center front or along the upper front.
Dislikes
* Since this is a 'Project Runway'-inspired pattern, you would have to determine the total yardage you need. I would not rely on the yardage for the individual pieces, because they tended to be overestimates.
* The cutting layout is by piece or by style element instead of each view in its entirety as shown on the pattern envelope. It was helpful to look at the 'croquis' sketch and select the style elements from there. On the section with the name and sketch of all of the pattern pieces, I placed a dot in each piece that I intended to use for a sleeveless dress. I used the bodice front, front facing, front ruffle (center front), low bodice back, shoulder strap and the skirt front and back.
Directions
* I referred to the directions that went with the particular style elements that I was using. So, the directions can be jumpy due to skipping over sections irrelevant with the style I chose. For the sleeveless version with shoulder straps, I started on the third page of the four pages of directions and diagrams.
* The directions and the diagrams were sufficiently clear. However, I thought that the directions for the neck and front center ruffles, there was no mention of finishing the lengthwise edge. So I turned under 1/8" from the raw edge and stitched a very narrow hem along the rectangular strip. To gather the ruffle, "stitch 1/8" in each side of gathering line, using a long machine stitch."
Modifications
* Added 3/4" to the width of the front center ruffle before cutting. I thought it was too narrow when I cut it from the pattern sheet. As just mentioned earlier, I turned under 1/8" from the raw edge of the rectangular strip and stitched a very narrow hem along each side before gathering.
* I used a cotton woven (oops! I forgot that the pattern asked for knits!). I cut the front and back bodice along the bias and added 1/2" extra to each side seam. I definitely recommend following the stated fabric requirements after 'sized for stretch knits only'. Simplicity should have bold-faced that so that I can see it better...
* After another fitting, I slashed the center back of the dress and I added a self-made rectangular facing of the same fabric to add more width. From the remaining fabric, I cut two strips 3" wide to be folded in half and topstitched.
* I ended up shortening the dress another 2"
Conclusion
I made a matching pair of pants and Heather prefers the pants over the dress. She is at that stage (out of kindergarten) where she prefers something comfortable and still stylish. I realized that she likes wearing knit dresses with skirted bottoms.
I will sew this in a knit! Once you have a particular style in mind, you could sift through the directions, making note of which steps are used to achieve that style.
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