Linen Twirly Dress

Since I was paying for shipping anyway (and, it turns out, brokerage fees) I ordered a bunch of off cuts (they call them "doggie bags") from fabrics-store.com.  J. was there when I opened the box and requested these three all be used for dress for her (the colours are sphinx, ceramic and meadow).  Hmmm, colour blocking -- she's very on-trend.   

I was inspired by the Sunshine Dress tutorial from Skirt As A Top.  As that tutorial suggests, I used the Circle Skirt tutorial at MADE.  However, I didn't have enough fabric to cut a full skirt from the main fabric so I made a full circle pattern, drew the radiating lines, numbered them (very important!!!)  and cut the pattern instead.  I had no idea how to figure out where the grainlines should be (or if that even matters on a skirt like this) so I laid the pieces any old way on the fabric to make them fit.  I added 5/8" seam allowances to all the pieces so I could do French seams.

My girl is almost 7 so the itty bitty baby dress bodice suggested in the tutorial wouldn't work. Instead, I used the top from Butterick B4282, along with the tabs and covered buttons from the The Cottage Home tutorial for the Party Dress (which was a huge hit last year and is still being worn).

I was going to do the radiating lines on top as well (like the tutorial) but my hubby thought that might be over the top.  I think in this case he probably was right (although it looks fantastic in the original).  So instead of lining the bodice like I planned, I finished the edges with bias tape to add a bit more colour to the top.  

When I tried to attach the bodice, it ended up being about an inch and a half too big for the top of the skirt.  I took in each of the sides 3/4" but it still her fit well.  I should have stuck with the smaller size anyway and just added length -- this pattern is quite wide. 

She's very happy with it, especially since I bought her new breaded, sparkly sandals that have the same blues.