Simplicity 5234: Girls Dress times 2

When sewing for myself, I've become so used to making sizes much larger than my RTW size, it felt wrong to sew a smaller size for my daughter than her RTW size.  Herein lies the tale of: Simplicity 5234...times 2. 

I don't have the luxury of fancy fabric stores or even online shopping here in India (Shipping costs aside, anything I order would probably never arrive, so it's not an option), so whenever I am browsing in my trusty, best luck shop, if I see something remotely interesting or even different...I buy it.  Such was the case with this pink tie dyed swirly print cotton.  (The shop had the same fabric in a teal/turquoisey color and I bought that too.)  Back on topic.  I wanted to make my youngest a dress since both girls had been asking curiously why I was only making things for myself (because one of the first blogs I started to read was The Selfish Seamstress...that's why!).  But due to Elaine May's lengthy hiatus, I got softened up to the idea of sewing for my kids.  This softening up combined with my funky pink tie dye cotton meant that it was time to cut the cloth.  

My youngest would normally wear a size 6 in RTW, but according to her chest measurement...the pattern said to make a size 4.  No way, Can't be...that must be wrong.  I'll make a  6.  Long story short...big sister got a new dress.  Sigh.  Thankfully I had plenty of fabric, so I was able to make a duplicate dress 2 sizes smaller.  I had to make sure that she could still get her head through the opening after I graded down.  Thankfully I checked before I sewed it all up.  Once finished, I thought the dress would look even cuter pinched in at the waist so I unpicked an inch on each side seam and sewed in some ties on both dresses. 

Front View

Closeup of Neckline

Back View with ties

Here is my official review:

Pattern Description: Girls pullover dress or jumper.  I made View A with the notched neckline

Pattern Sizing: girls 8-16.  I graded down to a 6 and then down again to a 4 

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?  Yes!

Were the instructions easy to follow?  Yes, absolutely.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?  No dislikes.

Fabric used:  cotton print for the dress and coordinating poplin for the yoke.

Pattern alterations or design changes you made?  I graded down to a 6 to fit my daughter, then realized that I needed to grade down again while making sure that the neck opening would fit over her head.  I added ties at the back to give the dress more shaping.  

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?  Yes, and yes!

Conclusion:  A cute dress with lots of variations