And so, I sewed a Pippi Pinafore and I was so delighted I sewed a second one!
I have had a love for pinafore dresses and overalls for ages. Considering my, ahem, age and my, ahem, shape, I have almost always avoided sewing them for fear of what might happen.
I sewed the Pauline Alice Turia dungarees and kept swooning over every new pattern that came to life.
The Pippi Pinafore was no different, I swooned and immediately sent a pm to a friend asking her to chide me if I was ever to sew it.
A few weeks later when Jennifer Lauren asked for reviewers on IG, I forgot all caution and here we are, I sewed the Pippi Pinafore and couldn’t be happier!!!!
I was offered the pattern in order to write this review but I will remain honest and independent in this article. However, give me a pinafore dress and I will be happy forever. I might not be that objective in the end.
I have to say I had been following every new release by Jennifer Lauren Handmade and even if I haven’t sewn it yet I already have the Mayberry dress and love most of her patterns…
On to the Pippi Pinafore : well, it is a really lovely pinafore dress.
I sewed :
- The first one in some kind of stiffer twill in red. Let’s call it a muslin.
- The second one in washed linen which is so soft it has been a dream to wear during the recent heatwave we have had here in France. #summer Let’s call the latter my new favourite summer dress, shall we? (well, together with the Charlie Caftan and the Malvarosa dress). Also, I am never going to iron this one because … linen and you know what? it is just the best decision ever, linen will crease no matter what and it used to drive me mad so I will just accept it and stop trying to tame what is not to be tamed.
How is the construction? And what about these instructions?
Printing and assembling the pdf : no problem as far as I am concerned.
Construction and instructions : perfect. Both Pippis were a pleasure to sew. And they were quick too, even if I know I am quite fast once I have started. Everything is clear, well-written and there are a lot of pictures to guide you through the sewing process. I think there is a real will to write thorough and helpful instructions. I probably would be able to sew most of the dress without them but I really appreciate this respect shown to customers.
I posted this picture on IG. The mention « glue side up » just makes me sooo happy because I was a beginner once and this would have helped. #respect I was especially happy with the button placket. I must admit I still don’t know what I did, I followed the instructions and tah dah… they align perfectly.
The notches (and you will find a lot of notches in this pattern) align smoothly. No problem anywhere.
Another lovely feature is the lined bib. Pippi is clean inside and it is very nice to end up with a piece of garment that is as lovely on the inside as on the outside.
We are not supposed to wear it like this but I had a little fun with the lining.
How did it go with the fit?
Well, you might already have noticed my first Pippi is too big for me. I seem to have wings on each bottom side of the bib. And the skirt although very comfortable is too big too.
It was my first time sewing a Jennifer Lauren pattern and I followed the chart and decided to stay on the safe side (better too big than too small), however I don’t have smooth measurements : I had to grade between sizes. I hate any kind of adjustments and grading things and I have become very lazy with this lately.
I chose a size 18 bib with the D cup. You can choose your cup size and the pattern explains how to do so. Very few pattern designers offer this feature and once again I am so pleased this option does exist : no more FBAs!!!! I can’t imagine how much more work this requires when designing the pattern but as someone who very often asks for a greater size range from independent designers and get explained it cannot be easily done, I do appreciate this. The bib also has darts and this helps giving it a better shape. I graded to a size 24 towards the bottom to match the size 24 of the skirt.
I was a bit blunt on this one and so as I said : it’s too big.
On the second one, I sized down.
The bib is a size16 with a D cup and the skirt is a size 22. I had to grade between sizes once again and tried to be a bit more clever this time. Jennifer helped. The second one fits much better. 
But I still have little wings on the bib side. It should probably be adjusted and sewn on me to get the perfect fit. I think there is such a big difference between the bib and the skirt sizes that it explains why I have not achieved the perfect fit yet. However nobody ran away screaming in fear when I wore it.
My next step is wearing the second Pippi a lot (and I DO mean A LOT) this summer.
As for this pinafore dress thing that bothered me (see the beginning), I just decided to ignore it and wear my dress because it is great and I love it.
Thank you so much, Jennifer, for giving me the opportunity to sew the Pippi Pinafore dress. 🙂
Keep calm and carry on.
PS : un grand merci à Bérangère pour les photos!!!
Ocni et cie 