Pattern Review: Thimbles and Acorns A Piece of History Dress

I was so excited about the Thimbles and Acorns A Piece of History Dress pattern.

I am a big fan of Thimbles and Acorns. I have always enjoyed her patterns.

And this pattern had so many cool variations!

I wanted to make the Civil War dress for my seven year old cousin, who has an Addy.
I wanted her Addy to have some clothes, but Civil War dress patterns are so complicated, as opposed to the 1960s patterns for her sister's Melody.

I was excited that this pattern seemed to offer a simpler path to making a nice time-appropriate dress.

The dress pattern is all in four pieces- two pieces for the dress and two for the lining. Sleeves and skirts are all part of the same piece.

There are drawstrings at the neck and waist to create the look.

I had one problem with this pattern- I drew the waistline on the front and the back of the fabric pieces, and I sewed a buttonhole at the back of the dress's waist for the ribbon to go through.

However, when I sewed the pieces together, the waist I had drawn on the front was higher than the waist I had drawn on the back. I had to go with the height of the waist on the back, because I had already made the button hole.

Then, when I put the dress on the doll, I just didn't like it. It just looks very awkwardly bunched at the neck and the waist. It just doesn't look right.

I tried washing the dress, and that helped a little bit with the awkward bunching..

I am debating whether to give this to my cousin at all, or just throw it away.

It's been a long time since I have disliked something that I sewed this much.

It makes me hesitate to try any of the other pattern variations.

I just don't get how mine looks close to the dress pictured on the pattern, but that one looks right and mine does not.

Here is a view of the back, with the drawstrings visible:

The lining of the dress is white, and it is deliberately visible at the sleeves, to easily create a more complicated look.

It is of course entirely possible that the waist of my dress is lower than it should be, but that really wouldn't make a difference in the problem with the bunched up seams.

I just don't get it.