After discovering the Lekala patterns, I saved a few other styles I like for Monkey Pants and purchased this cute summer dress right away. I love the detailing on the bodice and I worked hard to convince Monkey Pants that she wanted a dress for summer. She is currently obsessed with rompers but wants nothing to do with dresses as they are just nonsense in her world of backyard shenanigans -you can't use them for swinging, riding a bike, jumping on the trampoline, she told me. Well, I promised her she'd love it because it would be sleeveless and cool for the summer heat, casual, and easy to wear. And it's been a success! Yay.
Fabric: "Apparel" fabric from Hobby Lobby (cotton)
Notions: buttons
Total Cost: $14 including pattern
Size: Custom
Height 153cm
Bust 76cm
Underbust 66cm
Waist 62cm
Hip 83cm
Full Hip 84cm
Age: 13
So for this pattern, I modified the custom options to "wide shoulders" because the first Lekala sew, the blouse, was a little too snug across the shoulders. It's hard to tell if this made a great difference, since this pattern has no sleeves, but I think it did make for a better fit. Again, I was very pleased with the fit. It's really nice not to have to measure everything and try to make adjustments on the pattern to fit her. Torso length was just right. Dress length. Everything. For a two dollar pattern, that's an awesome deal. Only downside. I have to re-buy it to make it for myself. But at that price, it's definitely worth it.
I picked this gorgeous hydrangea print cotton fabric from Hobby Lobby. It is categorized as apparel fabric, but it's really more like quilting cotton. It's narrow width and has a hard feel to it. But, the print --I just loved it so much. I wanted to make me a dress too. But I don't know if I can get over the feel of the fabric.
The tuck detailing on the bodice is not showcased well by this print but I think it's still pretty. For some reason, I decided to use navy blue thread on those to hide the thread color? I don't know why. I used pink to top-stitch the rest of the dress. I think they probably would have looked better stitched in pink. But not a big deal. I used some cheap button in a duck egg blue I already had.
The back of the bodice is just plain, which works fine on this design. It has an elastic waist sewn onto the seam of the bodice and bottom panels. I think that would be fine on a lighter fabric but I think I would have preferred putting the elastic in a casing inside the dress on this stiffer cotton fabric. Not sure why the sash turned out so wide, but I think it looks nice even if it makes it look a bit more sash-y and less casual.
And this was part of the convincing process. I told her I'd make her some stretch shorts she could wear under the dress so she wouldn't have to give up her Tom Boy lifestyle.
We also found these cute shoes at the back of her closet that seemed to make no sense until now. So cute, casual, and summer-y. Which is what we were going for, but with a bit of pizazz!
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