[marzipanchen]

i would like to sew a “book report dress” for my 5.5 year old. she is of average size for her age but slender and has long, lean arms and legs.

i checked the oliver and s size table and she is height wise on the lowest end of 6 / top end of 5. regarding all other measurements (waist / hips / chest) she is a 4 and the sleeve length is almost a 7.

as i don’t want to sew sth. she needs to grow into and since the book report dress seems so roomy, i thought i should go with a size 5 and add length to the sleeves the way liesl described it in her blog.

i know it would be better to make a muslin but i hardly have time to sew at all so i thought i could maybe ask for your opinion? any help would be much appreciated.

[Jane]

My daughter measures as a 2T in the chest for most O+S patterns but is a size 4 for height (she’s 3 y/o). I do exactly as you suggested. I make the smaller size to fit her chest then add the appropriate length to arms and dress length. For the Book Report, if I remember I added length to both the bodice piece and skirt dividing the added length equally among both pieces so it still looked correct proportionally. Does that make sense? Sometimes with length of a dress it’s better if it’s a tad on the long side so they can get more wear out of it. Also, the book report looks great as a tunic as she gets taller with some added leggings.

Hope I helped to answer your question.

Jane

[marzipanchen]

Thanks Jane, I completely understood how you described lengthening the two parts individually.

Do you think I should even go with a four then, since most of her measurements are a four?

[Jane]

I think it’s best to work with the chest measurement for the dress “width” and adjust everything else accordingly.

Jane

[marzipanchen]

thanks jane, that’s what i’ll do then.

[Jennifer1568]

I think the Book Report has a lot of ease in the chest. You have to make sure the sleeves are the right length. The sleeves are the thing that can be too short. I agree with Jane about how to add length to the front and back.

[meleliza]

I agree with using the chest measurement, then adjust sleeves. If anything, make the the sleeves long and cuff them. This is where the most obvious growth occurs. I wouldn’t bother with a muslin for children’s things unless its for a special occasion and a fitted dress. But you can measure the pattern prices and her arms to see how much extra length you need. Or hold the pieces up to her for a better idea.

[Jillls]

If it were me, I would do size five since that is the start of the bigger size range. You can also eek out extra length by doing a smaller hem. I actually made a facing which saved me over an inch and made the curve easier to execute.