cowgirl butterfly astronaut

Every girl deserves something special. Especially if she's a cowgirl butterfly astronaut. So, now that I finally made time for some UFO (aka unfinished objects), Cubling's very own cowgirl butterfly astronaut dress is finally finished.

The original pattern is the (free) cowgirl butterfly astronaut vest by f.pea, which I changed slightly to make it into a much longer dress. From the waist down, I left out the blue edging and sewed the middle section together instead. It would look much better if instead I'd have joined the dress in the round because the seam, while neat, is the centre of attention. I messed up the sleeves ever so slightly by doing a larger size armhole (I slipped in the size instructions from 4 years to 6 years, doh) so I had to do some improvisation to fix this mistake (not wanting to unravel days of work... I'm lazy that way) and while not perfect, it does the job.

I think the dress could also be improved by being a bit more swingy, i.e. increasing the stitch count just underneath the waist band. As it is, it's a bit tight around the tummy and Cubling not being a skinny girl, it would simply look better if the dress was wider from the waist.

I'm pretty pleased with it altogether, especially because this is the first time I intentionally altered a pattern and while I would do it differently next time, I'm pleased I didn't mess it up completely. The yarn is Anchor Style Magicline, dotty. It is Italian made, imported from Germany, I tried to match the colours of the original pattern and went for a similar weight cotton yarn - because cotton brings out the block and stripe pattern really well. It is an easy enough knit, ideal for car journeys, in front of the TV etc.

The dress is easy to wear and is really both dressy and doesn't restrict movements.