Kids Clothes Week: cat dress

I've only made one thing this Kids Clothes Week and I'm pretty sure I won't finish anything else by tomorrow. So here it is, the 'ribbon-back tunic' from Linen Wool Cotton: Kids. I made the sleeveless version of this top (here) and loved it, but this one didn't quite turn out the way I imagined.

I had a vision of the tunic lengthened into a dress, but I was far too short of fabric to make the double-layered skirt I had envisaged. And as it was, the skirt part of the dress turned out rather too short. As I did with the previous version, I lined the top (and also the sleeves) instead of using facings, and I should have narrowed the bodice like I did last time, but I forgot, which made the neck and shoulders a bit too wide.

I'm not thrilled with the giant flutter sleeves - they look ready to take flight! I prefer a far smaller flutter, so if I made this again I would be chopping a fair bit off their width. I'm also not sure about the merits of the waist, where a gathered top part meets a gathered skirt part, which is kind of weird. Then there's the back - there's something about the way the tunic/dress hangs that makes its loveliest feature, the open back, not sit as nicely as it does in the sleeveless version, which has a band at the bottom. But as I didn't manage to get any decent photos of R from behind, you'll just have to take my word for it!

It's not so obvious in the photos, but the unlined skirt portion of the dress is quite see-through. As I write this, R is wearing the dress with leggings and a cardigan, and it suddenly looks much better. Given the issues of size, length and transparency combined, I think it's destined to be worn as a tunic. I'm not sure if I'll shorten it or just wait til R grows into it - she's shooting up fast lately - but as a top/tunic with a pair of leggings or pants (will she ever agree to wear pants??) it's clearly going to work much better. And it HAS to work, because I adore this fabric with its little hidden cat faces:

So not a total sewing success, but not a complete failure either. I reckon by next summer this dress will have a new life as a top!