Jump Rope Dress

This is my first Jump Rope Dress, and my first try sewing an Oliver +S pattern. Helen was pretty excited about modelling for me!

 The fabric was more difficult to work with than I expected - a loose weave that kept wanting to fray and twist off grain. Got there in the end, but the plaid isn't matched well in several places.

Going by the pattern sizing, Helen measured as a size 4 with a size 5 waist. I wanted a bit of growing room (we're barely past the middle of winter, after all), and I had also read in reviews that the fit can be a bit slim. So I cut out a size 5 top, tapering the body to size 6 at the waist. The end result has plenty of room - I probably didn't need to make the waist larger, but it's not ridiculously enormous.

Helen wanted the view B pockets.

I can see why some people rave about O+S patterns. It was nicely presented and the instructions were clear. I did feel like the pattern was simplified to suit less experienced sewists, which kind of clashed with my impulse to try patterns and techniques that are too advanced for me. However, simplified means easier to finish when sewing time is limited, so that's probably a good thing.

The pattern sheet was enormous which made it harder not to get marks, folds or tears during tracing. It would be nice if it was split over two sheets, but I guess that would increase production costs.

The collar is a bit uneven, but seems to sit ok when worn. I rushed the placket a bit and the overlap isn't in quite the right spot at the top, but again it's not glaringly obvious. The placket instructions were pretty clear, but I still found it hard to fully enclose the bottom of the cut edge and I think it might fray out over time. I have found a tutorial for another technique to try next time, which looks like it should work better.

I had read that the belt loops were on the long side, so I made the sash before attaching them, and cut them to suit the width of the sash.

Plenty of room for spinning and moving!