I must say, in full support of this pattern, that I was able to make the entire thing without the benefits of alcohol, having unwisely given up same for Lent. Still, alcohol aside, this was a relatively simple frock to make; time consuming, a couple of times frustrating but, simple. The end result was just what I’d hoped for, if not better. It fit Katie perfectly; no shoulder seam adjusting, collar fiddling or button moving hijinks at all. I did one fitting, ladies and gentlemen, to pin the hem. This is definitely a plus in the area of children’s patterns. This version of an 1898 child’s dress was one I planned to make in a cotton chintz over the course of a weekend. Ha! It took me two weeks but, I did a careful job and the result was worth the effort and even better than I expected. The pattern is pretty straightforward; there are not many pieces. The only hesitation I might voice is that there is a significant amount of hand-work; more than you’d expect. All those gathered areas on the bodice front and back require much hand-sewing. There are loooooooooonnnnng lines of gathering that (without the benefit of a glass of good wine) need to carefully pulled, lest your gathering threads break. Darnit. And, then break again. I hand-stitched the shoulder to the yoke. I hand-stitched the gathering to the yoke and then machine-stitched over the hand-sewing. I hand-stitched the upper sleeve puff lower hem to the sleeve itself. My sweet husband, Jay, hand-stitched the cuffs and I then hand-stitched the hem. I hate the look of a machine-stitched hem on a period garment and I am too impatient to figure the sewing machine’s hemstitch feature. Oh, I also hand-made the darlingest little button loops for the buttons. The illustrated instructions weren’t entirely clear but, then again, I was expecting minimal instructions at mot (as this is a copy of an actual 1898 child’s pattern). The areas where the pattern instructions weren’t entirely forthright were puzzled out without too much trouble (although wine would have helped a lot). All in all, the pattern was relatively straightforward, simple (if time-consuming) to construct and looked just about as cute as can be. Note, however, it is not a good bathing dress. Katie got a little too close to a fountain; thankfully, it was at the end of the day.
Denisen Hartlove –
I must say, in full support of this pattern, that I was able to make the entire thing without the benefits of alcohol, having unwisely given up same for Lent. Still, alcohol aside, this was a relatively simple frock to make; time consuming, a couple of times frustrating but, simple. The end result was just what I’d hoped for, if not better. It fit Katie perfectly; no shoulder seam adjusting, collar fiddling or button moving hijinks at all. I did one fitting, ladies and gentlemen, to pin the hem. This is definitely a plus in the area of children’s patterns. This version of an 1898 child’s dress was one I planned to make in a cotton chintz over the course of a weekend. Ha! It took me two weeks but, I did a careful job and the result was worth the effort and even better than I expected. The pattern is pretty straightforward; there are not many pieces. The only hesitation I might voice is that there is a significant amount of hand-work; more than you’d expect. All those gathered areas on the bodice front and back require much hand-sewing. There are loooooooooonnnnng lines of gathering that (without the benefit of a glass of good wine) need to carefully pulled, lest your gathering threads break. Darnit. And, then break again. I hand-stitched the shoulder to the yoke. I hand-stitched the gathering to the yoke and then machine-stitched over the hand-sewing. I hand-stitched the upper sleeve puff lower hem to the sleeve itself. My sweet husband, Jay, hand-stitched the cuffs and I then hand-stitched the hem. I hate the look of a machine-stitched hem on a period garment and I am too impatient to figure the sewing machine’s hemstitch feature. Oh, I also hand-made the darlingest little button loops for the buttons. The illustrated instructions weren’t entirely clear but, then again, I was expecting minimal instructions at mot (as this is a copy of an actual 1898 child’s pattern). The areas where the pattern instructions weren’t entirely forthright were puzzled out without too much trouble (although wine would have helped a lot). All in all, the pattern was relatively straightforward, simple (if time-consuming) to construct and looked just about as cute as can be. Note, however, it is not a good bathing dress. Katie got a little too close to a fountain; thankfully, it was at the end of the day.