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jump rope love

June 12, 2011 by gail

The Jump Rope dress is the first Oliver + S pattern I ever purchased, and it’s always been one of my favorites. I’ve put it off for the last seven months, I think because I was nervous about the placket and collar. When I was finally ready to try it, it took me another month to commit to fabric (I have serious problems in this department) – this was the third fabric purchased specifically for this dress. It’s Alexander Henry’s Colour in Stripes in Dove from the Matisse collection. It kind of says Fruit Stripe gum to me.

I know you should always err on the side of too big when you sew kids’ clothes, but after working on something for hours and hours (and hours and hours), I really want the gratification of it fitting RIGHT NOW, not six months from now. Especially something that’s season-dependent. So based on her measurements, I made the 18-24 month size.

The length is just right, but the bodice is on the narrow side. Actually, the fit is perfect once the dress is on, but getting it on and off is a challenge. The only way to do it is with her arms straight up in the air, and even then a little maneuvering is necessary. After I finished the dress I read here that the smaller pattern sizes do indeed run snug. Oops. Maybe it’s time to start sizing up. I should probably make a 2T while it’s all still fresh in my mind, but that would require tracing something like 11 more pattern pieces. Which got me thinking….what if patterns came with all the pieces pre-cut for every size? Can you imagine? Someone should look into that.

Anyway, here it is:

And here are some of the little details that make me love the pattern:

cuffed sleeves with tabs!

cute little pockets!

a sash!

and the placket and collar, which turned out to be no big deal at all….

If you’re at all hesitant about trying this pattern, you should check out the Jump Rope Dress Sew-Along from last fall. It guides you through the entire pattern step by step, with lots of photos and helpful tips and tricks. I referenced it several times along the way. That said, the instructions and diagrams in the pattern itself are wonderful (as is true with all Oliver + S patterns), and that’s what made it possible for me to sew something I thought was going to be way too complicated (but totally wasn’t).

And back to the sash for a minute – the center seam is driving me crazy:

See how the stripes didn’t match up? The stripes were otherwise very forgiving – I didn’t even consider matching them when I cut the pockets or the placket, but I don’t notice them there at all. It really sticks out on the sash though. I don’t have enough fabric left to cut another sash, so I’m trying to ignore it and I hope everyone else will do the same. Thanks.

And while we’re on this photo, I’ll mention that I cut half an inch off each belt loop. They just seemed really long for the bodice of the dress, and the sash fits through just fine without that extra bit of loop.

Okay, final photo….

18 Responses

on June 12, 2011 at 4:33 pm | Reply Trinh

this is adorable. and great job!
on June 12, 2011 at 5:00 pm | Reply Jenn

It is adorable!

Thanks for the tip on the sizing and making me feel less fearful of making this one.
on June 12, 2011 at 5:19 pm | Reply mcblackburn

love! love! love! your fabric choice! and your model’s cute little piggy tails! btw….children’s corner patterns come with each size on a separate sheet. They are pretty old school and the pattern envelope photos are horrible. But, they usually have nice directions and NO TRACING!
- on June 12, 2011 at 7:59 pm | Reply gail
  
  thank you! and thanks for the tip on the children’s corner patterns – i love the dresses you’ve made from their patterns and i’ve wanted to try a few of them – this no tracing information might just put me over the edge!
on June 13, 2011 at 5:59 am | Reply Nicole Keller

Fabulous! I love it!
on June 13, 2011 at 6:43 am | Reply suzy

So pretty! You’ve made me want to track down that same fabric.
on June 13, 2011 at 7:19 am | Reply Camille

This is my favorite Jump Rope Dress ever! Love it!!
on June 13, 2011 at 9:30 am | Reply kristin

sooo cute! love the fruit stripe gum fabric! i’ve been intimidated by this pattern (the buttons? the collar? combo of all of it) but your version makes me want to try it! love it. good to know about the sizing, too. i usually go a size down in O+S since they’re generally a little roomy.
on June 13, 2011 at 10:14 am | Reply jemellia

I shall make this exact dress for my 4 yr old. I am in love!
on June 13, 2011 at 2:11 pm | Reply loveliest days

amazing dress. love. love. love. that last photo.
on June 14, 2011 at 11:23 am | Reply queenoftheflies

This is simply darling! Wonderful fabric choice and so well executed. I saw it on the flickr group and had to click through to see the rest. Very well done, indeed.
on June 22, 2011 at 9:25 am | Reply Polkadotjes

This is also one of my favorite patterns. The stripes are yummy!
on October 11, 2011 at 5:48 am | Reply Gina Kim

WHy don’t you cover the seam with an extra belt loop?
- on October 25, 2011 at 11:21 pm | Reply gail
  
  good idea!
on April 15, 2012 at 11:14 am | Reply you and mie

This is so precious!! I just bought this pattern to work on during KCWC and Kristin mentioned you’ve made it before so I looked it up. I too, have major fabric committment issues, so I’m not sure how I’m going to decide within the next week. Eek! So glad I checked this out though, the stripes are adorable and I’ll definitely look into the sew along you linked for help during construction. Thanks!!
on May 22, 2012 at 12:55 am | Reply Emily

What a perfect dress! Love the stripes! PS stopped by from Kristin’s blog and obviously stalked your archives.
on May 6, 2013 at 9:34 pm | Reply Cora

I feel awkward asking but do you per chance have any of this stripe fabric left that I can buy from you? Scraps would be better than nothing!
- on May 12, 2013 at 10:10 pm | Reply gail
  
  so sorry, i used everything but the tiniest scraps!