Janey Jumper Pattern

Last year about this time, I became interested in sewing again.  I didn't really know exactly what type of project to begin with, but while at a local fabric store one day, a woman suggested I start out making a pillowcase style dress.  Quite honestly, I had never heard of this.  So, I rushed home and began searching the internet for free patterns.  This is how I became a blogger.

It didn't take long before this one search for a simple pillowcase pattern turned into a daily obsession for me.  One of the first blogs I came across was Lindsay's from The Cottage Home.  I love how she combines colors and prints and transforms these fabrics into beautiful creations for children to wear.  She has a knack for adding just the right kind and amount of embellishment to her garments--like covered buttons, ruffles, decorative trims, and of course, piping!  

Soon, Lindsay came out with her own line of children's patterns, and I knew I just had to have one.  When she had a sale a few months ago, I jumped at the chance to buy the Janey Jumper pattern.  It's a pretty, simple A-line dress with a few different variations for the front offered up in the pattern. 

I guess I have a thing for scallops right now, and this dress along with the Oliver + S Badminton Skort pattern (which I recently purchased but haven't tried yet) were my inspiration for developing my own Scalloped Edge Shorts Tutorial for this summer's Shorts on the Line event.  Now that I own both of these patterns, it's interesting to see other ways to make these scalloped edges!

I cut out the fabric for this dress right after the pattern arrived in the mail, but for some reason, it was at least a month before I had the chance to sew it together.  I checked out the measurements on the pattern and decided to go with the 5T for Ella, and I believe it turned out great with a little extra growing room.  

I made the dress using some quilting cotton for the outer pieces and just bleached muslin for the lining.  The dress is so soft and loose and comfy! You might recognize the pink polka dot fabric.  I used it earlier in the summer to make Ella her second pair of scalloped edge shorts which I loved (and she did too) better than the first pair I made. 

One thing I will say about this variation of the dress is that it is a little heavy toward the front.  Let me explain:  The scallop panels are fully lined and the entire front panel is fully lined meaning there are four layers of fabric on the front!  You can see all four layers in the picture below.  When I make this dress again, I think I will just make a facing for the scallops in an attempt to make the dress more balanced.

Lindsay's instructions for sewing the pieces together are very easy to follow; however, the pattern instructions are printed only in black and white, which makes some of the pictures a little difficult to see clearly.  I've never made an A-line fully lined/reversible dress before, so it was neat to see how this is done!  Lindsay did a great job of explaining it.

The back of the dress has a simple closure that doesn't require a zipper or a button hole!  Yay!  There's no need to change the foot on the sewing machine or cut out interfacing.  I love using this kind of closure and have done this many times before on tops I've whipped up for Ella.  

The thing that took me the longest while making this dress was hand sewing on all 13 buttons (12 on the front and 1 on the back)!  My sewing machine is only a couple of years younger than me, so it is not equipped with a computer or program that allows the machine to sew the buttons onto the dress.  And I couldn't skip this step because the buttons sewn onto the front are what keep the scallop panels in place!  

I do love these buttons though.  They are vintage pearl buttons from my grandmother's stash of buttons, and it just so happened that I had exactly 13 of these left!  Every time I see those buttons on that dress, I am reminded of her.  I know she never would have guessed she was buying buttons   to be used on her great granddaughter's dress some 50 to 60 years later!

I can't wait to try out the other dress variations included in the pattern, and if you don't already own a simple A-line dress pattern for your special little one, then I highly recommend you purchase the Janey Jumper pattern from the Cottage Home.  It's well worth it!