Pattern Review: Dandelions n' Dungarees Classic Ruffle Dress

I recently purchased the Classic Ruffle Dress from Dandelions and Dungarees, and boy is it adorable. It comes from a relatively new designer, but the pattern is well written and explained and has great pictures. I expect a lot of great patterns to come from her J

From cutting to completion the dress took me a bit longer than a simple dress- about 3 hours- but most of that was in the cutting… there are A LOT of parts to it.. But don’t be discouraged, it does go together quickly and it is fairly easy (with exception to the *gasp* BUTTONS!!) there were only a few actual pattern pieces, but the rest of the parts (skirt, button plackets, ruffles, waistband, etc) were given as measurements… which in my opinion are SO much better, since printer paper and ink are in high demand around this house. The pattern pieces were very well organized and professionally digitized.

I’d consider the pattern good for beginners/intermediate- only because of the button holes, but you could easily do snaps in place - which are definitely easier. It didn’t have any really difficult sewing techniques. And boy, did it come together nicely. It seriously was the closest to ready to wear (RTW) clothing I found in sizing (normally if I make a 2T for my almost 3y she SWIMS in it. But I took the change and tried (Since it’s the smallest the pattern goes at this point- from what I understand she’s working on expanding the sizes). The only thing I did do to customize the fit of the dress was to do shirring (elastic thread) across the back waistband. It tightened the waist up just enough to fit perfectly.

When cutting the fabric, I also made my skirt pieces 36inches long, instead of the listed length for my size (because I was lazy, and my fabric was already cut to the 36in, why cut it any more… haha) it made the skirt a little more fuller and is just adorable. My daughter loves to spin around in it and swish the skirt. Though, my pattern/measurement alterations were definitely not necessary, actually, this might be the first (maybe even only) pattern that I did not change anything about when putting it together- for me, that is saying A LOT.

And just to let you know the fabric, the print line is called 1001 peeps, I’m not sure of the manufacturer of the fabric, but is gorgeous. My daughter loves the towers on it, she calls it her castle dress.

So in conclusion, you really MUST get this pattern, and all other pattern she puts out in the future for that matter, this is a good one, and is Perfect for back to school. My daughter will be wearing it to her first day of preschool in a few week…… but that’s a completely different post for a different day.