Repurposing, but with a pattern

Alot of the sewing circle have done the repurposing of a man's button down shirt and Sophia has been begging for a blue dress, so again I took the opportunity to do a twofer. I, however, do not love sewing without a pattern and really hate the Step 1: make a pattern that begins a lot of the repurposing tutorials like the one found at Made. So instead I used the dress to make one of my Simplicity patterns (Simplicity 3859) that I picked up on sale at JoAnn's.

The dress, like a lot of the other stuff that I have made, turned out ok.

Yes, just ok. I am proud of myself regarding one thing that actually didn't work out that well, but I tried and that counts for a lot in my sewing world!! For the first time, I actually checked the final measurements on the back of the package BEFORE I started. Amazing, right? Unfortunately, I am unclear about whether the measurements are with or without the ease. After it is made, I am thinking...with the ease. Regardless, the end measurement was suppose to be 22 1/2 in around the chest and my little bitty 3 year old is just 19 in around, so I....made the pattern pieces TWO inches smaller. And now, it looks...................a bit small. I have decided that sizing is the hardest part of this hobby!!

With armholes following somewhere close behind.

I added some iron on butterflies to make the dress even better.

And how did Sophia like it, you ask. Sigh.

I almost hate to admit this, again, but the girl doesn't approve. She did model it for the pics which is more than I can say for the cape. Unfortunately, she took it right off after the pictures. That means another failure, at least as far as the critic goes.

I offered to change up the buttons on the back to make it even more special, but she said, "no thanks." She is a tough critic, but, at the very least, a polite one.