Burda 08-2008-135 Girl Top

Here's the replacement top for the beat-up, ruffly, too small pink top my daughter loved. This one is about a 4T so it is much too large for her. You can really see it in the shoulders. Oh well, it should take her about 15 minutes to grow into it. I used Polartec 200 so the gathers are very stiff. You can see that the thick gathers make the front yoke pop up a little strangely. I'm okay with it because she loves it and won't take it off. The full review is below.

The ribbon is mostly peach with teal and read dots. The teal in the lycra is the same. I'm trying to take a page out of Angie's playbook by mixing colors so different. I think Angie would have spoofed it up a bit and made it look really cute. Me, I can make it look so-so. I'm still learning about all this embellishment stuff. An embroidery machine would have come in really handy here. I can totally imagine a few butterflies or flowers coming up the side of the dress and one on the yoke. How cute would it be?

Pattern Description: Who says a flowered dress has to be conventional?! This one could look just as saucy worn over casual shorts as over leggings. Mixing various types of patterns is typical of Liza Korn, who would surely also team this dress with the checked jacket (style 133).

Pattern Sizing: Child heights: 104 - 128. This converts to about US sizes 5-7. I graded down to what I think is about a 4T. My girl is 2.5 years old so it's big on her.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, it looks similar although I used a much different fabric. Were the instructions easy to follow?I didn't really follow the directions. They used a woven, I used a knit. They used buttons on the back, I didn't.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I really like it and think it's very cute. There is nothing that I dislike.

Fabric Used: I used Polartec 200 in a cheery red color. I was trying to channel Angie.a and use bright colors that contrast but still "go" with the fabric. The ribbon is mostly peach with teal and red dots. The teal on the collar is the same color. There is a little too much poof to the gathers in the front but that is to be expected with the thick fabric I used. I will be making this with a woven fabric because it is cute.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I used a lycra binding for the neckline. I cut the back on CB fold and omitted the buttons. Next time, I will probably not use buttons either. I want to be involved with them getting dressed as little as possible. Buttons on the back would mean they would need me to help them get dressed. Better moms are probably into that. Me? I'm just about surviving the "getting dressed in the morning" experience.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I will sew this again and I do recommend it to others. This was made to replaced a badly stained, too small, pink ruffly thing my daughter likes to wear.

Conclusion: Very cute and she likes it. I guess it's a winner. I can see lots of permutations of that yoke section.