The Matilda Dress Pattern by Violette Field Threads reminds me of a butterfly print peasant dress I made and wore when I was 15 years old. I loved using simple techniques to get a similar look for my daughter in a style that is easy to wear.
The fabric is Cotton + Steel Basics XOXO in Pink Cheeks that I purchased at a local shop. I love the simplicity of this print! I made the dress with short cap sleeves. I used smaller elastic at the sleeve edge than it calls for. I think the wide elastic is a little overwhelming on a toddler.
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I made a 2T and cut it out 2″ longer because my gal is tall compared to her bust measurement. It’s pretty long…it kinda looks like a nightgown. She’ll grow into it, right??
The white pom-pom trim is from Boho Fabrics, she has the best trims!
I had three issues with the pattern:
1. The elastic around the empire waist was way too short. I was surprised by this because my girl is long and lean. The bodice was constantly riding up while my daughter was wore it and got worse after she hit a growth spurt. I took the casing apart and added about 1.5 inches to the elastic length and it fits perfectly!
2. (I added this info. on December 2, 2017) After a discussion with Janet from 7 Pine Design in Pattern Reviews and Resources FB page, I realized that I forgot to mention another mod I made to the skirt. The gathered skirt is way too wide for the smaller sizes. For a 2T, it would mean an 80″ skirt to be gathered into the bodice. This makes it difficult to pull the elastic through the casing. I chose instead, to cut and sew just one of the skirt pieces. This meant I had only 40″ to gather into the waist seam. It was really easy and I think the finished product is perfect.
3. I didn’t like the instructions for the arm elastic. Instead of putting the arm elastic through the casing, I attached it to the raw edge in the round and serged it in place. Then I flipped it up and towards the wrong side of the fabric and topstitched the elastic in place. This is a lot quicker and much easier IMO.
There are quite a few critics of this pattern. Some of them cite problems that were addressed in an update to the Matilda in 2016. 7 Pine Design has a post about the update, and her previous post mentions the initial drafting issues. If you don’t mind making a few changes to the pattern I think it’s really cute and worth the extra effort! Someday, I’d like to make it with the accompanying Rosemary Pinafore.
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