Back to School Sewing, Uniform Style

My sweet oldest  girl started second grade this year. I know every parent everywhere thinks it is inhuman that their children are growing up so quickly and I am no exception. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!?!! I could go on forever about the injustice of children growing up but it wouldn't really do any good, so I'll just tell about the dress.

This one was actually taken before school and the sun was blinding!

Blue Eyes attends a charter school that uses uniforms. For he age group, she can wear a navy jumper or a red/white/navy plaid jumper. It is generally cheaper to buy uniform than make them. I picked up a navy jumper online and expected to do the same with the plaid. 

My go-to source for discount uniforms didn't carry the plaid this year. Boo. As much as I love school uniforms, there is a part of me that needs to be a little different. I usually do that with the plaid jumper but the only "different" plaid jumpers I could find cost upwards of $40 and that's a price I am unwilling to pay. This year I got the Button Up Jumper from Once Upon a Sewing Machine and a few yards of uniform plaid. I love the result and so does Blue Eyes.

The light indoors was far less harsh

There were only a couple of modifications to be made. First, I changed the skirt front gathers into an inverted box pleat to better suit the crisp fabric. Second, I made a round neckline because that's what Blue Eyes wanted. The final modification was to change the angle on the back side seam to match the angle on the skirt. That was to make stripe matching easier.

My little girl may have just turned seven but she's got a set of hips on her. Because of that I needed to size up quite a bit on the pattern to let her wiggle into the jumper. I don't forsee it being a problem for The Pink Blur (who my mother has also called "The Buttless Wonder"). And this isn't really a change to the pattern, but it is an element I love. I had a further fit of nonconformity and decided to make the pocket lining out of a contrast fabric. I considered using the fabric for all the lining but ultimately decided to keep that traditional because there was more chance that the bodice lining would be spotted. So now the pocket bags are made with Doctor Who fabric.

Pockets are better when they're bigger on the inside. :)

The pattern was great to make something out of the ordinary but also compliant with the dress code. It is her favorite jumper to wear to school. I plan on making one (not uniform) for Pink Blur to wear to preschool.

After school the sun was behind our house and much more friendly for personality pictures.