Retakes on Simplicity 8174

Hello again! The one nice thing about making vintage children clothing is that several can be made in the time it would take me to make one dress for myself. That is, until she gets quite a bit bigger ;)

Back in December I posted a dropped-waist alteration I had made to this pattern:


Simplicity 8714, copyright 1970

I've been at it again - trying a few different things with my wide-shouldered very active toddler. The first version in blue is useful, but did not fit as well as I wanted it to.



baggy in some places, pulling too much in others.

So I made alterations detailed here and ended up with this:

I like the finished result! She looks quite a bit like the toddler in the bottom right corner of the envelope - but with straight sleeves added on (it is cold here!). One more picture of the remake here.

Child dress, with alterations

Simplicity 5169 - 1972

Hi! Rhelynn again. I've had my eye out for this pattern in a size 4 for about three months. I decided it probably wasn't going to happen anytime soon - so I bought it in a size 6, and then went looking for a 'close enough' pattern to alter it from. I took the girl in the center for a fabric suggestion, and used what I had in my stash trying to get the look. She has been needing a longer torso length in her dresses, as well.

This is what I ended up with:


My three year old daughter in her 'dirndl' style dress.
We have had numerous wonderful comments in public, and she likes it, too.


She is always in motion
this was one attempt at capturing a photo of the back
for being detailed, this dress performs 'in action' better than expected

Just before Christmas I found this pattern in the right size! I was on my way.


Simplicity 8714 - 1970
All of the main pieces came from this pattern.

I did skip the gathered stay sleeves, which were a large part of the 'vintage' in the pattern. I knew they would be extremely impractical on my three year old -- so I used the same cap of the sleeve in the pattern but made it longer using a 'standard' pattern piece I keep for sleeves. I used the original pattern to discern how large and how to attach the waist panel all around. In retrospect I should have used a much longer zipper as it was a tad difficult to get on even with the longest one I had in my stash. I like everything I make for her to easy enough getting it on, decent to wash in a regular clothes washer and to not constrict her natural movement. Those are my goals learning how to make clothes :)

I've got more in mind for this pattern -- see more on this project and new attempts at KnitOwl blog.