Retro Reproduction Dress: Corduroy & Pockets

The Retro Reproduction Dress FREE Pattern is available here.
The pattern and tutorial for the Bubble Pockets are available here

Today was our cool-weather day for the week (82 degrees today, compared to upper 90's the rest of the week!), so it seemed like an appropriate day to try out a Fall outfit.  Last winter I bought some corduroy  on clearance at Joann's with the intention of making a cute jumper for my daughter-- which, of course, I never did.  But now with the Retro Reproduction pattern available I have no more excuses-- it's easy, quick, versatile, and you can do so much with it (come on, that was a great sales pitch!  Are you sold on it yet?  And did we mention that the pattern is free?!)

Anyway, the Retro Reproduction dress makes a GREAT corduroy jumper to wear with a long-sleeve t-shirt and leggings.  Perfect for those cooler months.  For this version I decided to add bubble pockets (I'm not sure if that's really a thing, but it seems like it should be) with an exposed lining and piping.

 

These pockets are perfect for a three year-old:  they are just the right size for all the little figurines that she loves to carry around. 

And despite the summer weather, we did test it out with the long-sleeve t-shirt and leggings.

So what do you think?  Is there enough interest to have these pockets as an add-on to the pattern? Are there other variations you'd like to see?  We'd love to hear your feedback!

Retro Reproduction Dress: Kansas City

UPDATE:  the free, basic version of this pattern is now available here

One of the reasons that Elizabeth and I started this blog was so we could share our sewing projects with each other.  Since we now live over 700 miles apart, it's a little difficult to get together for an afternoon of sewing, or fabric shopping, or collaborating on other creative endeavors.  This blog gives us an alternative space to do some of that, as well as makes us conscientiously carve out time for joint projects (which, as moms, can be so hard to do for anything that's not kid-related).   But the point in saying all of this is that projects like the Retro Reproduction dress are why we blog:  Elizabeth was inspired by a style, drafted the pattern, made several versions (here and here), shared it with me, I digitized and graded, and here is my version.   And all of our collaboration was online!  And now we get to share it with anyone else who might be out there reading!

So without further ado...

 I had been wanting to make a color-blocked dress like this for, oh, eight or nine months now, so this was finally a great excuse to do so.  When we release the free pattern, we'll be sure to include a tutorial on how to make this variation.

The multicolored fabric was a thrift store purchase-- about four yards of 60" wide for $1.00.  I love finds like that!

The back of the dress has the same pattern as the front:

 And I love the geometric sides!

Most importantly, for a three year old, the dress is great for running around and playing:

 

 We are working on making this into a free pattern (sizes 2T-4T), and it should be available within the next few weeks.  So check back with us soon!