Third Time's a Charm

7.05.2013


I know that I've only blogged about this dress once before, but truth be told, this is actually the third time that I’ve made the Anywhere Dress.

version numero uno
The first time I tried to be fancy-schmancy and make the facing from a different color fabric to give the dress a fun little twist.  And it would have worked brilliantly…if I didn’t make the facing from a darker fabric than the dress fabric, resulting in a dress where the facing can totally be seen through the dress.  Ooops!  Fortunately, O loves the style of this dress and still pulls this first version out to wear every once in a while.

The second version was this one and it fit perfectly when I first made it.  But then it shrunk with each progressive washing (despite the fact that I’m 97.3% sure that I prewashed the fabric) and now it’s inappropriately short and O always tries to argue with me when I tell her that she’s not going out without putting pants on under the dress. 


And now for the third version - this time with elbow-length sleeves and another bound neckline.  The fabric is the one fabric from my recent Girl Charlee order that I wasn’t quite in love with.  I don’t know what the correct term is but in addition to the printed pattern it feels like there’s some sort of fabric paint on the fabric to add some extra texture.  I don’t think it’s a good look on adult clothing but it seems to work just fine on kid’s clothes.  Fortunately O does not seem to be a picky consumer when it comes to all versions of this dress.  And fortunately she doesn’t seem to have noticed that I cut the seashells out upside down on the main part of the dress.  Oops!  I was careful to make this version a little longer in case there are any problems with shrinkage again but I think I ended up overestimating how long it needs to be because I ended up having to make quite a deep hem on this dress.  I’m going with the theory, though, that your hems can never be too deep when you’re dealing with children who are growing like little weeds (and I should know how weeds grow considering that our front lawn is now approximately 50% weeds).


And one more moment of confession - I'm 99% sure that I sewed the bound neckline on backwards and now the back is the front and vice versa.  Yes, I could have brought out my frenemy (the seam ripper) and redone it, but I kind of love the higher neckline in the front.  It gives the dress a little bit of a 1960's feel and you actually can't tell that it's backwards.  I promise.


Once again, O is feeling some mad-love for this dress.  She even begged to wear it around the house before the dress was fully hemmed (which I let her do once she’d been fully warned that I would NOT be happy if she stained it with strawberries before I had even finished sewing it).  Personally, I’m just happy that she now has a dress that is cute, super-comfy, and playground appropriate, because if it were up to her she would probably choose to wear floor-length gowns to the playground every day and those are, well, a little less playground appropriate. 

In the spirit of full disclosure, I was given this pattern by Go To Patterns and this post contains affiliate links, but, as always, all opinions are my own.  

12 comments:

  1. I made this pattern for s too and it seems to have shrunk also in the wash, or else she is growing too fast! can't really tell which is the case. I do love the bound necklines and will have to try that next time around. and the higher neckline is perfect. she looks like such a little lady:).

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  2. I actually like the look of this fabric, but not so much the sound of it if that makes sense! Glad the customer was a happy camper anyway :oD

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  3. Ooh, so cute! I love this style of dress on ME (looks polished, feels like PJs) so I am not the least bit surprised that O. loves it too. And sometimes it takes a few tries to get a pattern just right! (Love the high boat neckline, would have assumed that was the pattern design if you hadn't mentioned it.)

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  4. It's wonderful! She does look so cute and put together. I like the shells this way :) great job!

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  5. Third time and just as beautiful as the other two! The fabric, from where I sit, is actually quite cute and looks adorable on your daughter. A very summery feel to it. And I like the higher neckline as well . . . sometimes those mistakes are serendipitous!

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  6. Wow, look at O looking so grownup and sophisticated! I think she needs to make a silly face now to let me know she's not really suddenly like, 21. Love the dress. I didn't even realise it was seashells.

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  7. This is so, so awesome! I just love it!

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  8. this is really cute on O! I actually like the neckline like that. Looks like the perfect summer vaca dress.

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  9. Am I to late to comment on this? Love the seashell fabric, it's very Pacific NW. And I agree that O really looks like she's growing up a lot lately!!

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  10. Anonymous13.7.13

    I really like this, girly without being super frou-frou. And the neckline does give it a very cool 60s vibe. It looks like something out of a Mini Boden catalogue! OK I am done, love it!!

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    1. Anonymous13.7.13

      I am not british, not sure why I spelled "catalog" as "catalogue". ha.

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  11. Yes, my first thought with this, was what a cute little retro dress. And this print works perfectly for kids!

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