A Christmas Dress for My Niece

I made a dress for my 6 year old niece for Christmas. I immediately loved the picture of the "Sweet Sunday" Ruffled Dress in the Winter '09 Ottobre magazine. I knew that I just had to make this dress. I thought this would be a perfect style for my niece. I liked how the pattern was so unusual. I had so much fun making this one. I want to make another one for my daughter in a bit more sophisticated fabric. She absolutely did not like the picture once she saw it but I had her try on the one for her cousin and really liked it. YEAH! I get to make one for her too.

Front
Back

Note: You might be interested to know why my son is modeling this dress. It was part of his punishment. He decided to mess around with a permanent marker (which is not allowed for obvious reasons) while his brother was trying on the dress for me to check the fit (my youngest is about the same size as my niece who doesn't live nearby). I think you can imagine what happened next. YES! He got black permanent marker on the dress! I am sure you know how upset I was. He missed out on going to a movie with his grandparents and had to model the dress. BTW, I was able to get out most of the marker with rubbing alcohol. You would have to look very close to see the disaster.

On to the full review:

Ottobre 6/2009 #23

Pattern Description: A girls dress that has a well fitted bodice in contrast to the fullness of the skirt with its three overlapping ruffles.
The sweet ruffled dress is sewn form velveteen. The bow, sleeve bands and neckline trim are cut from shiny satin. The underskirt of the dress, to which the two lowest ruffles are attached is also cut from satin. The sleeve edges are gathered to bands the ends of which are tied in bows. The dress has an invisible zipper on the back.

Pattern Sizing: size 92-128 According to my niece's measurements she was a 116 chest and waist with a 128 waist. I made a 122 and I thought it ended up a little big. I think this dress is kind of roomy.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? My dress looked very much like the pictured dress.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes they were easy to follow for an Ottobre pattern.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I really like the style. It is different than what you see in RTW but yet very RTW looking. I immediately love the shape of the neckline.

I did have a little difficulty stitching the middle layer to the satin because it so slippery. Before I read the instructions completely I thought the skirt was 3 separate full layers. I was disappointed it wasn't because I wanted to take off the top two layers to make a less ruffly dress for my daughter who didn't like the frillyness. They way they have you construct the dress makes for far less bulk and probably more twirliness (is that a word?).

Fabric Used: I used a stretch cotton woven fabric that I picked up from the back wall at Denver Fabrics.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I didn't add the bow. I also used knit for the neckline ruffle and the sleeve bands. By using this heavier fabric I couldn't tie the bands into bows. I had to just knot them and cut and resew the ends so they weren't so long. My neckline ruffle falls forward a bit so I had to tack the facing down.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Definitely! I already have the fabric and permission from my daughter to make one for her.

Conclusion: I love how cute this one turned out. It is so different and stylish. LOVE IT!

Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a great day.

Until next time...