Friday, August 7, 2015

Melody Valerie Couture's Bluebell Dress: Pattern Review


Today I am writing about Melody Valerie Couture's Bluebell Dress, for sale here at Pixie Faire.






This is the second Melody Valerie Couture pattern I have made, so I was somewhat prepared for the intricate instructions and the number of pieces that were required.  In fact, after looking at the instructions for the dress for the first time, I felt that it was less complicated than I expected from looking at the finished product.

This picture should give you an idea of how many pieces were used.

In particular, the scallop at the bottom of the dress was much easier to make than I expected, and I was almost gleeful at how easily it went together.

One problem that I had with this pattern was that the armscye binding for the arm holes was not listed with the list of pieces to be cut on the page with the pattern pieces. I did find the information buried in the text when I realized I needed this piece. However, it was annoying to stop sewing, look for the information in the text and go cut out two tiny pieces of fabric after I had put the fabric and other cutting materials away. If Melinda, the owner of Melody Valerie Couture, revises this pattern, I hope she changes this.

I left off the ties that tie into a bow in the back. I am making this for a seven year old, and I do not know how good her bow-tying skills are. Besides, once it gets wrinkled, it never looks as good again.
(Yes, I can use an iron- but a little girl should not.)

On a related note, I used velcro instead of snaps as closure for the front of the dress, because again, it will be easier for a little girl to get on and off.

My version ended up having a slightly longer skirt than the pattern, because I didn't understand the instructions and did it my way. Heh. I don't know why it is so hard for me to understand written sewing instructions, but it is. I prefer when possible to just go off and sew and ignore sewing instructions.  This is definitely not possible with Melody Valerie Couture patterns!

I took pictures from different angles, trying to show the details. The collar is made up of three pieces to give a petal- like appearance, and the sleeves are also really special and petal-ish in design.





Somehow the finished dress in pink reminds me of the pink dress Cinderella sews to wear to the ball, before her stepsisters destroy it in the Disney cartoon movie. I don't know why. I looked the dress up to refresh my memory, and all they have in common is the color.


It's very pretty! 

Zia gets to model it because it fits her vaguely Victorian/ Alice in Wonderland fashion thing she has going on.


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