A "Princess" Jumper for Kaylyn

Mrs. H had some fabric that had been sitting around the house, waiting to be turned into a dress for Kaylyn. But having three little ones, she doesn't have much time to sew, so I decided, since I had my dear sewing machine with me ;-) and some patterns, I would make the dress.

However, I put it off and put it off because the pattern was very frustrating to try to understand and I was a little scared about cutting into it. Finally, two days before I left, I thought, "Okay, so I need to make this jumper; the pieces are already cut out, tomorrow's Sunday, and I leave Monday..." However, Pastor and Mrs. H were going on a date that day and I was going to be babysitting the kids, so I didn't know if I would be able to get it done on time. However, I took what open moments I had and this was the result:

Pattern Description: Common Sense Patterns, 420C- Preteen Basque Jumper

Pattern Sizing: Girl Size 10

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

Were the instructions easy to follow? The directions themselves were, for the most part, easy to understand, but... not entirely. As you will see below.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I think the only thing I liked about it was the end result. :-P The pattern pieces were the worst. You'd think "Common Sense Patterns" would include the sensible and important information needed on the pattern pieces-- the name of the pattern, the name of the piece, the sizes, dots and arrows, directions on how many pieces to cut, indications for where to cut on the fold, etc., etc.... These did NOT! All they said was "Back Bodice", "Front Bodice", etc., and the initials of the pattern. So I had to use common sense to try to figure out how much to cut of which pieces, etc. ;-) There were a couple other things about the pattern that were kind of strange...

Fabric Used: dark purple floral print cotton

Time it Took to Make It: I'm guessing about four or five hours (not including cutting it out)

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: The biggest alteration I made was cut the skirt back into two pieces so that the zipper reached farther down. (They had it going down to just above the waistline, and I didn't think that would be very practical.)

Would you sew it again? Now that I know how to cut everything out and what alterations to make, yes, I think I would sew it again, because I really like how it turned out in the end. :-) But while I'm at it, I am going to make my own markings on the pattern pieces.

Would you recommend it to others? If you are willing to sit down and figure some things out for yourself, yeah. :-D

Other: The buttons were fun to do! I covered the buttons with the same material as the dress, and I think it turned out pretty cute. :-)

Kaylyn was very excited about the jumper and calls it her "princess jumper". :-D It's a little big on her right now, but that will leave room for her to grow into it and where it for a couple years. :-)