pulling it all together: pattern review

I am so excited about both of my October sewing projects.

The first is a tiered twirl dress for Bird, loosely based on a particular Matilda Jane dress from several years ago that looked so deliciously twirly and gathered. I found a pattern from Kustom Kids Boutique, the Nini dress, which I don’t see in their shop. I love PDF patterns, because typically they show up in my email box minutes after I buy them, satisfying my desire for instant gratification even if I don’t start on them right away. The pattern was very easy to follow. My only trouble came in gathering my tiers. I sewed all around the bottom tier twice, as instructed, with loose gathering threads. Sat to gather, and the thread broke. And I did this again, with the same results. Mind you, that I’m working with something like 14 1/2 feet of fabric in one tier alone. Everything had come along so easily, including using an overlock stitch feature on my still quite new-to-me machine, that I felt really frustrated.

Finally, I dug out some heavier thread, which worked swimmingly. I also have to credit the shop owner, who answered my woeful email with a couple of helpful tips and just the right amount of sympathy. On the dress, I still have to cover the buttons and stitch them on the straps, then hem it, but otherwise, nearly finished. I can see making another one, but it won’t be anytime soon!

Pics will be up when it’s all complete.