This post contains affiliate links that help support my blog at no cost to you.
So for this last month or so, I’ve been on a bit of a sewing hiatus. It wasn’t really *intentional* – the issue was that my sewing machine refused to do an automatic buttonhole. This issue started back in October, and when I took it into the shop for them to fix it, their tech wasn’t going to be available until December. Sigh. So, I finally took it back into the store in a few weeks before Easter, and then *after* Easter, I got my machine back. And the problem? My buttonhole FOOT was broken. So, all in all, a lot of drama for something that I wish could have been figured out *in October*.
Anyways…. I now have a new buttonhole foot and am $150 poorer for it. Bernina, my friends, have very expensive feet. But, I’m invested soooo….
Onto Juniper!
I’ve been feeling MIA in Peony tests lately, so I knew I had to definitely make up for my absence with Juniper! This is a lovely, easy-to-wear and sew dress with tie straps, elastic back, and multiple skirt styles and lengths. It’s really a perfect summer dress! Juniper is available in children’s sizes 1 – 14, in digital PDF format, with layers and projector files. You can choose to print at home or send the A0 blueprints to a professional print shop.
This dress works best with lightweight fabrics such as rayon/challis, sateen, shirting, lawn, voile, etc. While you *can* make it in quilting cottons, it is a bit of a stiff kind of fabric and I wouldn’t recommend it.
I made Juni for my youngest and used a rayon/challis from FabricMart that I’d been saving for me. But, it’s been in my stash for too many years, so over to the kids it went! While rayon isn’t my favorite fabric to work with (tip: starching it before you iron it, makes working with this fabric a bit easier), it is really perfect for this type of dress and the soft feel of the fabric makes it even more comfortable for picky children.
Going by my 6 year old’s measurements, I used a size 3 bodice with size 5.5 height. My kids have a habit of being way narrower than their age size – a reminder to *always* go by measurements and not by age!
Actually, funny story on that – my eldest (she’s 10) was given a size 11/12 RTW dress for her birthday last year and couldn’t understand why it looked like a tent on her lol. I reminded her that this is why I sew her clothes! It will likely be a few years before she can fit that dress, and by then, it will be too short!
I hope you love Juniper! You can get Juniper on sale for the next week (ends Sunday, May 15, 2022). Be sure to join the Peony Patterns Facebook group to see everyone else’s versions and get more tips, tricks, and sale alerts!
auschick sews 