This time, Adilyn (the LYN in Avalyn) got to be my subject....oh wait....I mean my oh so precious and often times over animated model!! tee hee
And for the second time in a row I was able to review a pattern for a designer that I have never previously had the pleasure to come across....word on the street is this is the first children's pattern for Dandelions n' Dungarees written by Elise.
When I spied my little blue eyes on pictures that were made from this pattern I about fell out of my chair! I mean seriously....I have been searching for MONTHS to find a pattern like this! THIS pattern is what I would have wanted to use to make my girlies their "first day of school" dresses. Around these parts kids are not allowed to go sleeveless and all I kept finding were sleeveless summery type dresses....this pattern embodies every.single.thing that I love in a little girls dress!!!
How crazy cute is this dress?!?!?! I mean someone pinch me and WAKE ME UP!!!
I have searched high and low and side to side for this dress...of course this is way cuter than what I was dreaming about!!! I mean seriously...check out the button down front and the ruffles that go all the way around the neck line....and the sleeves...the adorable poofy sleeves that just SCREAM I am little girl HEAR ME ROAR!!! Oh...and did I mention the bow...ruffles AND a bow...no way!!!
Enough gushing....getting on to the actual review!
I chose to do the dress length for the review...one.... because if you couldn't tell from my above ranting and raving above I have been searching for this pattern for months...and two....we just love dresses in our neck of the woods!!! But to have the option of making it a dress or a shirt is just a bonus for this pattern!!!
The instructions have a sewing dictionary right off the bat which is nice for one who is not fluent in the proper terms of sewology. Often times I catch myself saying that thingy...or the watchamacallit....or that blasted piece of crap that I should have invested a few more dollars in to get a better quality one....I'm sure we all have our own terminology for sewing terms....please don't let me be the ONLY one that has pet names for her supplies and for techniques like gathering (which I will not post on the blog as I try to use my manners here).
The instructions are laid out very well and there is a size guide table which is always helpful when you are sewing for someone that does not live under your roof....or maybe they do live under your roof but you like to sew when that said someone is at school so you can not be interrupted a gazillion times!
There is also a fabric and notions requirements table, cutting instructions for the rectangle pieces so that you don't have to waste that coveted and ever so expensive printer ink on printing rectangles, and get this....on the cutting instructions there are measurements for cutting the length for the skirt and the shirt option....we do not have to use our brains to subtract to figure out the difference if you are wanting to make the shirt and not the dress....I have no idea why it chaps my hide to have to subtract...I've been doing it for more years than I want to admit to....but bless this woman for adding this small detail!!!
There was very minimal printing for the bodice and sleeve pieces and the pieces went together very well....no having to finagle and pray that you are doing it right!
The seam allowance is also included in this pattern! Yay...no guessing!!!! I love guessing when there is a prize at stake...but I despise guessing when you are talking about possibly ruining fabric that I have been hiding.....waiting to use it on THAT perfect dress!!!
And that bow...that super cute bow on the front of the dress....it comes off!!! It's attached with a snap!!! So after your precious wears the dress and maybe gets it a little dirty pop the bow off so you don't have to worry about trying to figure out how to get it all pretty and perfect when she wears it again!
There are so many good things about this pattern....I just love the style of this dress....have you picked up on that? I think not only do I love it because I have been looking for it forever...but because it is trendy...it is unique....it has so many sweet design elements and most of all is because it is girly...I want my baby to look like a baby as long as I can keep her that way....they grown up so fast...this dress is sophisticated in a way that she feels like a big girl but still looks like my baby girl....
Now....for the few minor hiccups with this pattern.....
The difficulty level of this pattern is listed as "early intermediate" but I would be more apt to say that it is a little more advanced than that. Not because there is anything that is super difficult....but because the instructions at certain points are a little on the vague side and I would love to see more pictures that are a little bigger and maybe better quality.
There are no page numbers at the bottom of the pages....I no longer worry too much about little hands mixing them up but I print remotely and so many times I walk into my studio and the floor is littered with literally hundreds of pages of different patterns.....page numbers are a blessing to me!! But again...it's not a deal breaker for this pattern!
I also love my pattern size cutting lines to be in color....it just is easier on the eyes...sometimes looking at all the different sized dots/dashes cutting lines makes my eyes cross and second guess myself....which is never good because then I end up second guessing myself the rest of the day...it's an endless cycle really!!!
This truly is an amazing pattern and the design of the dress is to die for!!! It's classic yet unique which makes it a winner in my book!!! I can't wait to see what else is going to be released for children over at Dandelions n' Dungarees...because I know I am going to HAVE TO HAVE IT!!!
Happy Hump Day from the three of us at Avalyn Apparel! I hope that yours was a little less hectic than ours was!!!
xoxoxoxo
~Rebecca~
