Tuesday, July 05, 2011

The Butterfly Dress

When the Jo-Ann Fabrics in our area moved to a new location all fabrics were 50% off and though that is still more than I generally like to pay for fabric, some were too cute to pass up.  Miriam picked out this butterfly fabric and has been asking on a regular basis for the past 6 weeks when her dress would be done, so here it is

 The Butterfly Dress!

The pattern even included a little purse so how could I pass that up?  I couldn't.

I think the success of this dress comes down to one basic fact; there was nothing new on it.  Lined bodice, puff sleeves, gathered skirt, zipper.  I have done them all before so there was no learning curve to get caught in.  

I did use a pattern, but the thing is, patterns and I don't get a long as a general rule.  Yes, my mother sent me to sewing lessons when I was 11/12 (thanks mom!) and I learned to read a pattern (thanks Collie), but I was 12 and like most 12-year-olds I just didn't fully grasp what I was being taught. I sewed the seams I was told to sew and eventually cute stuff came out of it, but I didn't really know how that happened because I was never made to really interpret a pattern on my own.

It turns out that I am a re-sewer at heart, an alterer of clothing, a tweaker of patterns and tutorials, someone who sees potential yardage in all the cloth around me.  Ultimately I just don't follow directions well.  Funny, I was always that kid in school that followed directions perfectly.  The teachers loved me (or didn't realize I was there, I'm not sure which) so now I am getting out my rebelliousness by scorning the directions on a Simplicity pattern.  It's a little pathetic but it's all I've got.  Add to that the way pattern writers take simple things and make them more complicated than translating the Aeneid, and you can understand why I used the pattern for the shapes, but not so much the directions.  Do we really need an entire paragraph of jargon to communicate "gather the sleeve between the dots."?  I think not.  If all of that explanation was for the novice who has never gathered a sleeve, then maybe it aught to be written in  English.

This post sure took a turn towards rant territory, but hey, the dress is cute and my little one is thrilled.  Butterfly hair bows coming soon!


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