Deadlines

It seems as if this summer is all about deadlines:

• work deadlines
• house improvement deadlines
• baby gift deadlines

And, with each deadline come numerous potholes -

• software glitches and problem solving
• Village board members who need to expand their thinking
• knitting projects that fail and have to be ripped apart and started again

Along with the aforementioned listings, comes this little item:

I had a good time sewing it on Sunday, I love the little bugs and wording on the fabric. But, it looks a little big for Sophia, don't you think? I made a size 6, Sophia is currently a 5-6, sounded safe to me. But, when I measured the bodice - its 14 inches across! How can that be right? 28 inches in a full bodice for an almost 4 year old? Somethings not right in Denmark er, Spring Grove.

Mccalls pattern 6311. What will Auntie Shell do?

Sewing clothes has always been a frustrating process for me - the clothes never seem to fit right. I'm willing to accept that in grown-up versions but I have found that children's clothing is less frustrating, In this case, should I have followed the pattern per Sophia's measurements and made the size 4? That just didn't seem right to me. And, now that I did follow her "size" it seems too big.

What I am going to do is have Sophia try it on. I haven't sewed the bodice into place and I can cinch it in (side seam) if I need to. However, I want to make this for Sophia AND Majka - http://oliverands.com/patterns/dresses/patterns24.phtml (deadline: Saturday, July 23rd - ahem.)

In the case of the Oliver S pattern, Majka wears a size 5 as does Sophia. The problem is, I don't want them to wear the dresses for 5 minutes. So, I decided to make a size 6 based on the pattern. Looking at the pattern pieces there is less than 1/8 difference in widths between the sizes. The difference is in the bodice length, particularly the placement of the straps and buttons.

What I will do is - make the 6 for both girls, but wait to put the buttons in place until they try it on - buttons can be moved.

Time to go put the fabric in the dryer. With school closed today, I should be able to get it cut out... Updates to follow.

Update: The dress was too big for Sophia, much, much too big. Is it possible I cut out the wrong bodice per pattern? Maybe. What I did do was: insert pieces of elastic in the back part on either side of the zipper. This way, as Sophia grows, Nicki can adjust it. I also made the straps long and tucked them in side of the bodice for the same reason.