[LauraB]

You are all brilliant – thanks so much. I’ll go the 6 and do a quick measurement to see if I need extra length.

cheers

Laura

[LauraB]

A bit late, but have finally got my act together on Flickr (although pictures are appalling, as ever).

Here is the finished outfit:

Front: http://www.flickr.com/photos/55741006@N05/9677582000/

Back: http://www.flickr.com/photos/55741006@N05/9674328585/in/photostream/

Pocket bears!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/55741006@N05/9674327961/in/photostream/

She was super happy and got her photo in the school newsletter, so I think it came together pretty well.

[LauraB]

I’ve bought some felt for pocket bears – super cute idea and helps with any potential confusion with Alice in Wonderland, Miss Muffet or Dorothy!

justsewit – I would NEVER get her in a gruffalo outfit! Despite all my best intentions, she is a determined to conform to every gender stereotype going. I’ve given up trying to change it now.

Thanks again for all your help everyone – I’ll definitely post the finished outfit on Flickr.

[LauraB]

Thank you everyone! Apparently Goldilocks must wear a blue dress, however much I would prefer her to be sporting cropped trousers and a turtle neck. That book looks brilliant!

I like the idea of the birthday party, but I think needlewoman is right – warmth is the way to go and a 19th century inspired pinny with flutter sleeves would be gorgeous. I’m going to make the dress, pinny and blouse in that order – so if I don’t get to the blouse she can just wear a long sleeve t-shirt underneath.

I’ve decided on blue gingham for the dress so I can play with some bias details. I was inspired by seeing the real Dorothy dress at the Hollywood costumes exhibition at ACMI in Melbourne. It is well worth a visit if anyone is nearby, if only to see the Keira Knightly dress from Atonement – completely stunning.

Thanks again!

[LauraB]

That must be it! I managed to sew the placket backwards as well. I’d used a smaller stitch because of the double gauze so that was a fun half an hour of unpicking. Now I know why…

[LauraB]

OK – thought I had been super careful, but must have been operator error!

[LauraB]

The extra width is in the yoke, not the blouse body, so extra tucks would make it worse! I’ve stitched it and it seems better – I’m using double gauze, which is fairly forgiving. I’ve got the extra down to about 1/4 inch on one side and 1/8 on the other. Hopefully the sleeves will go on OK!

[LauraB]

Jane – did you have any luck with this? I’m also making size 5 and have run into a similar problem. Front yokes matching up perfectly. Back yoke out by 1/4 – 1/2 inch on each side. The pin tucks are definitely the correct width. I will wing it and see what happens, but would be interesting to know if you resolved it.

Laura

[LauraB]

Hi Krista

I made this coat out of Little Folks laminate and wanted to get the same vertical matching. I was very untechnical and cut out the front piece and then laid it back on top of the fabric to line up the front yoke, making sure it matched exactly. I had a horizontal pattern to worry about too, so had to take into account the seam allowances – you won’t need to do that with just a stripe. I took ages fiddling about before I cut, but I got it out of less fabric than the pattern specified.

The shoulder seams are bit more tricky, but I would use the neck line and notches as a guide to your fabric placement.

Not sure that is much help – I’m sure there is a more ‘proper’ way to do it!

Laura

[LauraB]

My daughter is not yet three, so a bit young for the dolls at the moment. I’ve been saving them, thinking they would be a good rainy day activity when she is a bit older.

And then some of the patterns went out of print. And then I thought, perhaps I wouldn’t cut them after all. People do pay a lot for rare things (cf Heston Blumenthal Christmas puddings currently selling for GBP330 on eBay! http://www.brandrepublic.com/bulletin/brandrepublicnewsbulletin/article/1043963/heston-pudding-sparks-consumer-frenzy/). I can see out of print, uncut Oliver & S patterns, complete with doll wrap, being very sought after in the future.

My suggestion (administratively hellish, I’m sure) is to offer a card stock doll at a nominal extra fee (perhaps even as a donation to charity?) along with the more robust packaging. People could buy them to cut out with their kids, or to collect, and people who don’t want to pay don’t have to.

[LauraB]

Yes – I’m SewnUp. Using my real name on Flickr seems a bit risky after reading the thread here. Glad you like it – worked out much better than I thought it would.

[LauraB]

I’ll have to see if my atrocious local sewing shop stocks it. I think the dress looks cute! I like the contrast pink stitching.

I put mine up too – not the best photo, unfortunately-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55741006@N05/5165702572/in/pool-694451@N21/

[LauraB]

Hahaha! It would be fun to try to persuade you that a cozzie is a fearsome Australian beastie, but it is actually a swimming costume. I’m a transplant here from the UK, but I found it really interesting that different parts of Australia have different terms for a swimsuit – bathers, cozzie or swimmers, depending on where you are from!

[LauraB]

I am a complete knit novice, but I imagine interlock works a bit better than single knit. I only had enough t-shirt for the yoke, not the lining, so that probably made a bit more sturdy.

What is wonder-under? I have never come across it. It sounds fantastic!

[LauraB]

Hi Johanna

I did all the seaming with a little zigzag. I did the top stitching round the back neck opening in a zigzag too, but it looked pretty rubbish, so I did the rest with a normal straight stitch and it came out fine – by the time you are stitching 5 layers of knit together, it is quite firm and not stretching out too much. I seamed the underarms with zig zag and then used a straight stitch to hem the end. The sleeve is quite loose on my daughter, so didn’t need to stretch that much.

Perhaps my bargain basement interlock and well-washed t-shirt were just really well-behaved? Or beginners luck? Would love to know how you get on if you try it!