here is the calli faye wednesday dress made up as intended. since i was bummed about not having enough fabric to make this dress for my daughter’s birthday, i picked up more fabric right after finishing her blouse version. this is a cotton batik with a fine weave and soft hand. perfect for summer dresses!
as i mentioned before, i was a little thrown by the sizing chart because it put my 50th percentile 10 yr old in a size 6. i ended up tracing the size 7 width, but extending the side seam all the way out to a size 10 length. then i used the bodice length of the size 8 to mark the waistband casing. i probably could have gone with the 8 in length as well, but i really like the modest hemline. in a sea of super short kid dress and skirt options, it’s kind of nice to have something a little more covered.
plus it nicely balances the generous cutout on the back. i used the size 7 cutout, but i would probably reshape it a little smaller next time. it’s very open, and i’m not sure i’d send her to school in it. however it’s great for the casual summer dress it is. the only thing i altered other than sizing was to lower the neckline by 1″.
this pattern has you partially line the dress. there aren’t separate pattern pieces for the skirt portion, so the liner is just on the bodice and it very neatly finishes all the openings and creates the casing for the drawstring. since i had some metal eyelets on hand in exactly the right color (they came with my snap/eyelet tool) i used those instead of making buttonholes. the drawstring is simply self-bias tape made into spaghetti straps. then i attached the straps to a 10″ piece of 1/4″ elastic, which ends up at the back of the dress. that way the bow can be tied with a pretty drawstring, but the waist still stretches in the back. i hope that makes sense! basically, the middle third of the drawstring is elastic, while the ends are made from the bias tape.
final thoughts:
i think this is a really nice pattern. i appreciate the simple shape to showcase great fabrics, plus it’s perfectly casual for everyday wear. it is quick to sew up and, in this size, took less than two yards of a rather narrow fabric. the pdf itself felt a little clunky to put together. there was a lot of paper waste where a pattern piece just crossed over to a new page. part of this is because instead of tiling the entire pattern, certain pages are used for each pattern piece. i see this in a lot of the kid pdf patterns, and sometimes it works out great. it’s just that here (probably because i was using the larger end of the size spectrum) it felt like i wasted a several sheets of paper.
the armholes with the lining were a little tricky to navigate. i had to sew the arm opening, starting and stoping exactly where the side seam starts. then, i folded the armhole opening out of the way to sew the lining and outer side seams. i couldn’t do it in one continuous seam without major puckering under the arm, so i sewed the lining side seam, then stopped, repositioned, and sewed the shell side seam… not a big deal, but this could have been handled better in the directions. lastly, i may have mis-measured, but double check the opening placement for the drawstring before making holes. the spot i had marked would have been too low… again, that could have been my error!
all in all i’m pleased with how this came out. i’m happy i made the sizing choices i did (following the measurements, not RTW size) otherwise there would have been tons of excess fabric in the bodice. and naturally, her sisters are begging for their own. this pattern comes in 12mo-girls size 10 US, so it’s a great buy.
all my monkeys bid you a happy summer!
—lisa g.
I feel like I haven’t had time to comment in ages – somehow the rest of the family is occupied tonight thank goodness. This dress is adorable! I love the print and the cutout. I can tell your daughter loves it too. Great monkey shot!
haha that’s okay, it’s kind of redundant for me to post here and on IG all the time… oh well i can’t help myself! and thanks, she loves the dress!
Gorgeous! Wow, kudos to you for making such an effort for your daughter. My kids only get really simple things like elastic waisted shorts and pinafore dresses because I’m lazy. You did a great job!
thank you! this really is a simple dress to make, plus she has two girl siblings who get the hand-me-downs 🙂
Such a great dress! I love styles like this on little girls. A dress but not too frou frou (my girls have killed my desire for frou frou forever me thinks!!!) and I love the back detail. Great fabric!
thank you! she really doesn’t go for the frilly girly stuff (which i’m totally fine with!) so it’s nice that i can accommodate her!
Oh hi little monkeys! Such a cute dress, it’s unique and I like the drawstring waist.
hehe they are pretty adorable when they try… thanks 🙂
Adorable, what a sweet pattern. And she is so sweet as well. I love a soft batik, sometimes the fabric is wonderful. Your children look so happy, perfect pic of summertime.
thank you! it is a gem of a pattern since i can appreciate a simple design. i’m on something of a batik kick lately, i love the colorful designs!
What a pretty dress! You know, if that came in adult size, I’d totally wear that!
thanks gail, and so would i!!
Love your version of it ! I tried making one and had so much trouble with the armholes that I stopped and it’s still unfinished in a drawer.
thank you! and yes, those armholes could turn out disastrously! hope you can pull it back out to finish sometime.
Very cute! I love the back. And I seriously love the monkey shot. I can’t imagine what life is like with FOUR! 🙂
thanks, i so seldom get a good picture off all of them together!
Great summer dress! Love her sass in that first picture 🙂
thanks! ten year olds are alllll about the sas… 😉
What a sweet little dress for a darling daughter!
thank you 🙂