Truffula WHAT??? A Modkid Quinn!

So, first things FIRST:  I think this dress is beeeeeyond cute!  Second things SECOND:  I think there some details/construction ideas left out in this pattern, which is a first for a Modkid pattern for me.  But I could be nutso; there is always that.

I did do the size 4 in the Modkid Quinn, as chest size-wise (23 inches, finished measurement), it should have been the right choice for Camden.  However, this sucker isn't going to fit her for very long, sadly.  (Interestingly, I feel the back fits quite well - just that the bodice pieces should have come in more, and I'll remember this - I hope! - when I make her next version.)  It's quite snug, and one thing I did to try and fix that problem, though it may have been silly, I suppose, is to widen the button band that is attached to the main dress.  And speaking of this very button band, I do think the attachment method is weird.  From what I understood in the pattern, it is to be attached, right sides together, then turned out, away from the dress - the seam serged...?  Not sure if that was clear.  I chose to attach the button band, widened, as I mentioned, pressing down the back side of the band and top-stitching it closed, after fold it to meet the original seam line.  That is much neater in this sort of situation.

Also, I do think this dress should have called for interfacing, which it did not.  If I had been foreward-thinking when constructing the bodice, I just would have added it, per the norm.  Not sure why I didn't think of it.  I DID think of it when I stared at the skirt, which is ONE layer, and realized I would be attaching BUTTON HOLES to that sucker!  :O  Well, that's no bueno at all, in my humble opinion.  So, I created a wee facing, which isn't the prettiest thing, but it'll do.  My machine would have eaten the fabric ALIVE, wasting Seuss-like resources, if I'd added button holes to ONE LAYER.  (Not sure if you are reading my amazement at this oversight in pattern construction!!!)

So.

Other than those issues and the fit issue, it is SUPER cute.  I'd had this Seuss fabric since the early Spring, I believe, and I'd used some of it on another Modkid pattern, the Bailey, which Camden loves.

I do prefer adding elastic in the arms to get the desired ruffle effect, rather than using elastic thread in the machine - it's longer-lasting, and neater, I find.  The general construction of the dress is clearly super easy, and I have actually had the dress done for a couple weeks, buttttt.....!!!!  I was moping about, thinking I HAD to suck it up and buy buttons from a big chain store, when it came to me!  I messaged Tessa Ann on Etsy to order Lorax buttons - holla and hello!!!  They were able to make some super cute teeny Lorax and truffula tree buttons for the dress, and they came out soooo well-done!

So, I squeezed Camden into this sucker, and she had a grand time, jumping about in the melting snow!

And.....looking at these last several pictures, you can't TELL there is snow, aha!  Maybe a wee bit ;)

Fiona - A Wee Pinafore Dress

And....almost back in blogging action!  I feel I haven't written in AGES....not that I haven't been sewing, but because I have partially-finished projects lying around, waiting for this or that.  I actually have three Violette Field Threads Josephine creations, also, so, look for that post soon!  I love them!

As for today, I've had this outfit done for days and days, it seems, but the weather turned to *^%$ last week, and it was too cold or cloudy or snowy for pictures.  I made Camden brave the cold today (it was totally in the 30s, I promise!) for pictures, as the ones I took the other day at the library were $*&%, just like the weather.

I chose to make Camden's second-ever Figgy's Fiona.  If you can get a hold of it, it's a great little pattern, and there is a version for boys, too!  Those two-for-one deals can be hard to pass up ;)  I did find ONE listing at THIS shop on Etsy, so, research is done for you, LOL.

This is the version I made for Camden soooooo long ago!!!  :O  

Clearly a TINY child back then!

This time, I opted for classier, rather than zany, and reversed the solid/print.  I was super awesome (one of those YAY ME moments) and used corduroy from my stash (I'm telling you - I have NO idea how much I had originally ordered from Fabric.com, but lawds...I've gotten two pairs of pants out of it - and this!) and contrast from my stash.  You can applaud if you want ;)  I also happened to have a few buttons - thankfully, as I am po' right now, folks! - on hand to use.

I will say it was tricky for me to get decent photos, as I was rushing it because of the cold - and I DID press the dress immediately beforehand (and pull off any loose threads/bits that I could see), but man!  It's tricky to capture corduroy the right way in a photograph...for a genius photograph, such as myself.  Also, I likely should have used a darker gray for the buttonholes, as they seem to glare at me in the photos, though in real life, they don't look too bad.

The one detail I didn't get on camera, as it wasn't working out, is that in the shoulders, going from one pleat all the way around to the other, right in the ditch of sewing, is a peek-a-boo of contrast fabric underneath the corduroy, which is a nice touch, I have to say.  

Construction of the pattern is super easy, though if I'm remembering right, the instructions for how to have a clean pleat don't seem AS clear to me, but I knew what to do to make them prettier this time around, as I'm just more experienced now.  Also, I will admit to being confused this time by the hem (as it's fully lined ) - and just doing what I wanted, probably out of laziness, aha!  Don't hate.  I probably made more work out of it, sadly.  Such is life.  I did do the size 4/5, which I think fits perfectly well on Camden.  

Some twirling

The poor child had fallen, not dramatically...yet always looks this way when her bare hands touch snow!

Overal, super cute dress, great for cooler weather/layering!