Back to school jumper remix

Have you ever started a project and for about until years later. Yes, I mean years. About 3.5 years ago I got it in my head that I was going to start sewing clothes for my oldest daughter. I had a need to create and she needed some new outfits. The only things I knew about sewing and my sewing machine was what I taught myself. I used to scour the craft store for the patterns marked "easy" because I was afraid to try anything different. With the McCall's M5684 jumper pattern and some adorable pink flannel material I started cutting our what was probably the 3rd or 4th dress I'd ever made Maddie. After I got the pieces cut I got side tracked and now fast forward 3.5 years and here we are. 

Two nights before the first day of school I was looking through all my patterns for something that I could make my Abby for the first day of preschool. I started opening old pattern totes and this pattern and cut out pieces caught my eye. I knew that Abby was about the same size now that Maddie was then so I decided to finally put the jumper together. I didn't mark any of the pieces so I got the pattern pieces back out to match them up and that's when I ran into a problem. 

NONE of the pieces matched. The cuts weren't straight and there were too many of some pieces and not enough of others. I started to put it back in the box when I though better. I've come a long way in the last 3.5 years with my sewing skills. I could figure this out. I set aside the instructions and set all the pieces in front of me along with the picture of the envelope as inspiration. 

 I started with pleating the front and back pieces then adding the outer side of the top piece. Next came the straps and then the lining piece. I just top stitched around the bodice from there. The buttons are supposed to be in the front, but the buttons I chose were bigger and the straps were wider than the ones pictured so I decided they looked better in the back. I didn't even sew up button holes, I just put the straps over the back where I wanted them and sewed the buttons through both pieces.  

 The dress turned out similar to the one in the picture. It's somewhere between a 4T and a 5T in size as well. I finished the inside a little bit nicer than the pattern instructed, but it's nice to see how far I've come since I started sewing for my little ladies. 

I'll leave you with Abby's version of a silly face. 

Have you ever had a sewing fail turn out better than expected? 

Linking up at: 
What Kids Wore Wednesday