Saturday, August 09, 2014

Uptown Downtown Dress

When I saw the call for pattern testers for a simple child's dress, I thought maybe this would be just the thing to motivate me to sew again.  (How I have missed sewing!)  So I answered the call and made my 9-year-old princess the Uptown/Downtown Dress designed by Terri of Sew Straight and Gather.

 

There have only been a handful of times that I've used a PDF pattern, so this was a somewhat new experience for me. I found that printing and taping the pattern together really wasn't as difficult or time consuming as I expected--certainly no worse than tracing the Ottobre patterns I'm used to sewing.  One extra-nice thing about this PDF pattern is that I was able to choose the size I wanted and print just that one size---no maze of overlapping pattern sizes to follow. 

The pattern includes a wide range of sizes from 2T all the way to size 10.  I made a size 8 for Emily.  The fabric is jersey knit that has been taking up space in my sewing room for years.  It was perfect for this pattern.  And Emily loves the dress.  She has worn it every week since I made it in June, and she keeps asking me to make her another dress in the same pattern, even going so far as to pick out fabric at the store.  (I didn't buy the fabric....just told her to shop my stash!) The pattern is quick to sew, and both the fit and instructions are great.  I do hope to sew it again, and soon.