the skater dress
March 26th, 2013
My daughter has never been much of a girly girl. There was a brief princess phase, but for the most part all the frilly and fussy girl things are of no interest to her. Not that she is all for boy things, either. She just wants to like what she likes and not be told what that should be. A while back she said, totally exasperated, “Arg! why does my toothbrush have to be pink?!”
Exactly. So what is the awesome dress that isn’t too girly, but still has a tiny bit of twirl? The Skater Dress pattern by Kitchy Coo.
Amanda has hit the nail on the head with this pattern. Even the name is perfect. The skater dress is comfy and stylish, just right for puddle jumping in the spring, throwing on over your suit in the summer, and of course going to the skate park. She designed it to fit for a few years! And this dress will indeed fit my daughter through the fall–a lifetime in kid years.
The original pattern is a crew neck, but I couldn’t imagine it without a hood. Luckily for me, Rae recently posted a hoodie tutorial that was a perfect match for this dress. I made the placket a little shorter so I wouldn’t have to add buttons or snaps. She does have to wear something under it, but I expected that.
The fabric is from Joann’s if you can believe it. I couldn’t. It is a lovely knit: not to light, not to heavy, and so soft. The best bit is that one side is stripes, the other polka dots! The color could be less Primary! Blue! but I’ll take it.
The pattern is well written and Amanda guides you through the trickier parts of sewing with knits. She convinced me that I should use stretch needles when sewing with knits. And she introduced me to the stretch stitches on my machine, which I’m now in love with. Amanda also tried to get me to use a double needle for the hem. I did buy one, but then wimped out when it came time to using it. My hem is of course wavy and now I regret not listening to her.
The moral of this story is, listen to Amanda and buy her awesome pattern! Be sure to follow along with the Skater Dress blog tour to see everyone’s variation of this fantastic dress. See you at the skate park!
i love this with a hood!
Love everything about your version!
My daughter is the same way. She admittedly insists that she hates all dresses …except for the ones that she likes. She is a tomboy who loves the color pink. She is who she is and she likes what she likes. I love the dress. Great work.
Love it! (and I want one)
This looks great with a hood! And, when I first threaded the twin needle, I expected tangling and frustration. It’s never happened. I’m knocking on my wooden table top as I write this, but the twin needle has never given me any sort of problem, and has been generally quite easy to thread. It’s worth giving it a try.
ok, next time I will use the twin needle. I promise.
This is so awesome!
This is fantastic! Love that blue, and the hood is a perfect touch!
Love this! The pattern is almost identical to the Lands End dresses that my 3-yo has been living in all winter, so I’m pretty sure I’m going to break down and buy it one of these days :)
the pattern is for long sleeve, short sleeve, or sleeveless–perfect for all seasons. I see much wearing of this dress in our future!
I know of a little girl around here that is exactly the same. And she would LOVE a dress like this. Thanks a lot for sharing! (and BTW, the fabric is amazing! I wish we had JoAnn and Michael’s here in Barcelona!)
A hood!!! why didn´t I think of that?? Another version to make :)
It looks so fresh, modern and skatery on her.
Glad you´re in full sewing shape now Meg, I missed your sewing posts.
María
oh Maria, thank you! it feels good to be back.
Adorable! I love love love the hood. You should definitely try that twin needle, if I can do it you will have zero trouble!
Very cool dress. Love it!
it’s so perfect!! i bet she’ll live in that thing until it’s so short and faded you’ll be ready to hide it away. guess i need to hunt the knit section harder at JoAnn next time too!
Love this! I knew the second I saw it that that was the fabric from Joann’s. I just bought a bunch the other day in both the blue and red color way. How was it to sew? I think this might be perfect for my not so girls niece who is having a bday next month.
Love it! I kind of want one for myself…
love this so much, and I think our daughters are very similar in their clothing styles. :)
I love it with the hood! It’s just adorable!
Ok, you’ve convinced me to look into this hoodie thing. Now, to find that double printed knit fabric at my Joann’s! Love your version!
Oh, that looks so comfy! You have to try the twin needle next time! They’re not as scary as they look at the result looks so awesome!
Wow! This is fantastic. Love the fabric, and the style, she must feels so comfy and relaxed in it.
I LOVE the hood and this blue is so pretty!
love that fabric! i totally thought it was poke-a-dots lined with a striped fabric. great dress, i kinda want one.
That hood is just awesome! I love how it looks on her. Wondering if my girl will ever dislike her pink toothbrush!!! ;)
[…] good weight too, just right for when (if?) summer comes. I went with polka dot buttons because it's stripes + polka dots up in here, all the […]
Very cute! I have a similar fabric in grey and yellow but I paid an arm and a leg for it in Tokyo. Joann’s ..who would think?