The Audrey Dress

Every year on Palm Sunday, our church does an Easter egg hunt. Since we weren't going to be in town for Easter this year, I decided this would be the perfect occasion to make Pinky a dress for spring. Unfortunately, you won't be getting an Easter egg hunt shots as it's difficult to coordinate an event and take pictures at the same time. It's one of the drawbacks of being so involved with a church ministry.

I do, however, have pictures from Sunday when Pinky decided to wear the dress for her first youth class appearance since her confirmation. (More on that to come, btw. I outdid the hell out of myself and I'm pleased as punch. As a bonus, it fits in with the Historic Sewing Fortnightly. Score!)

So let's talk about the details, shall we? To start, it's the Audrey pattern from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop, a company that makes PDF patterns for children. Now I won't lie. I have beef with the majority of PDF pattern companies. We'll just say I'm generally not a fan. However, the offering for patterns in pinky's size are rather slim from the Big 4 and can be rather expensive from other companies. I also didn't relish the idea of tracing out an Ottobre pattern given the time constraints I gave myself so the pdf would have to do. They are quick to download, easy to print out, and since the pattern that caught my eye had limited pieces it went together nicely.

So without further ado, here's my review of The Audrey Dress by Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop.

Pattern Description: Audrey is a faux crossover bodice pattern with a full skirt and bias tape binding.

Pattern Sizing: It comes in sizes 3 months - 12 years and I cut the 10 for Pinky.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Pretty much

Were the instructions easy to follow? They would have been if I used them. But I really wasn't thrilled with the way the dress was meant to be worn and changed it.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I didn't like the lack of real closures. This is considered one of the bonuses of these types of patterns, that you can assemble them with no zippers, no buttonholes to make, no plackets to fuss with. It has a small opening in the back that closes with one button But quite frankly, I don't think that suits a dress that's meant to have a defined waist and a full skirt.

Fabric Used: aqua batiste from a local quilting shop and white eyelet from Joann's. The ribbon at the waist is also from Joanns. I believe it's made by Offray.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I omitted the bias binding. The ready made stuff sold in the big box stores is stiff and the color selection is limited. I decided instead to treat the batiste as a lining and used traditional methods to attach it. I also turned it into a real wrap dress and I added snaps to fasten it at the waist. I messed up my snap placement which has turned it into an adjustable waist should my child decide to grow out instead of her usual out.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?: I'm not sure I'd sewing again and I'd only recommend it to a newbie sewist I couldn't convince to give Oliver and S a try.

Conclusion: This dress was a sweet project that sewed up quickly. But I found myself wishing I'd stop being such a wuss about pattern drafting. A couple lines with a ruler and I could have taken the pattern for one of the traditional bodice dress patterns I own and come up with the same result.

Suffice to say, this pattern hasn't converted me to the world of pdfs. I'll use them because they're convenient but there are easily obtained and explained patterns that result in a much better fit.

Would you like to see a bonus shot of the baby?

He's not much of a baby anymore, is he?