Alterations and decapitations

As I've lamented in the past, Chez Hoppo Bumpo suffers an imbalance between X and Y chromosomes. Opportunities to make clothes for little girls are few and far between. So I had lots of fun making a little playset for a family friend, who turns 5 today.

The outfit is made from BurdaStyle's very easy Sophia Little Girl's Playset.

I can highly recommend this pattern. Granted, that printing, cutting and taping 19 pages together is a bit of work, but at US$2 its good value. The pattern is multi-sized, giving 92-104-116-128cm. I made up the pattern for a 110cm child, so needed to redraw all the pattern pieces between two sizes. The sewing itself, however, was all very straight forward.

If you look at the original design, you'll see that I used a bit of poetic license. The bodice is meant to be cut in one piece, giving seamless shoulders. I didn't have enough of my cute Aunty Cookie fabric for to do this, so instead I cut the top in three pieces. The print was used on the front, with black with white polka dots on the back. I also omitted the little cap sleeves (read: I forgot to cut them out, then decided to make do without). The seams and hems were all finished using some home-made bias binding.



After fitting the top on (a hesitant) Argy (rats ... the game is up - he definitely knows the difference between girls and boys clothes) I decided to re-cut the neckline. I made it a bit wider and deeper, so that it would be more comfortable on a hot summer day.

Unfortunately, this alteration took out a row of carefully lined-up Cookie girls in the centre front. They all lost their heads. Nasty, that. And one headless soul was condemned to stare from the back as a covered button. Gruesome, huh?

BurdaStyle BS-005 - Sophia Little Girls' Playset
Sizes 92 - 128
Requires 1½ yards or 1.4 metres lightweight cotton
Pattern available for download from BurdaStyle.com
"Cookies" black on white linen/cotton blend by Aunty Cookie