Today we take a look at the super fun Mimi Dress by Filles a Maman. If you want a dress with tons of options, this is a great pattern to look at. Collar, no collar, side button slit, optional belt and belt loops, curved hem, straight hem.... soooooo many options.

Today we have Kara and Rebecca here to share their unique versions of this dress and tell you all about the pattern....

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Mimi by Filles a Maman

Hi y'all! It's Kara again, bringing you a review of the Mimi Dress by Filles a Maman. I can't wait to show you the pics of the dress! I'm sure I've told you before that my kids have a strict dress code for school, they have to wear collared shirts. Not much for for a sewing mama! I've set out on a desperate search of all patterns with a collar. I've found quite a few, maybe I can do a whole post on that later! For now, let's talk about my latest collared dress pattern, the Mimi.

I was drawn to this pattern because of the collar. I like that it has a twist on the typical collared shirt or dress. Once I opened up the pattern, I realized it is a very versatile pattern. First of all, the size range is 12m-14, I love that!

Here are some specifics about the pattern:

Sizes 12m-14
Size chart
Finished measurement chart
Fabric requirement chart
Printing specifications
Pattern layout
Printing guide broken down into each variation of the dress
Instructions on how to lengthen or shorten
Very detailed instructions

I mentioned there were many variations to this dress, let me tell you about them. First, I chose to make the Asymetrical Peter Pan Collar Dress with short sleeves. Other variations include: shirt or dress, shirt or dress with fringe (instead of a collar), no collar (keyhole only), short or long sleeves and a belt.

The dress is a slim fit dress so if you are on the edge of a size, I would go up to the next size. The collar and bottom facing pieces have interfacing, so mine were a little snug to get over the head. Next time I will use a lighter weight interfacing so I don't have this trouble.

I made the belt to go with the dress and attached the belt loops as specified and I love the high placement. I will make the belt a little shorter next time, I should have checked the length before I finished the belt. My daughter really likes the dress and I love that it's a mommy made school outfit. It's so comfortable for her, it's like wearing a nightgown. This is a keeper for me!

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I'm just going to warn you up front....picture overload with the MIMI dress!!!!

My littles are turning into such great models! The way it's been working lately is the little that is in front of the camera is taking direction on how to pose, what facial expressions to use, and how much attitude to give from the little that is standing behind the camera with me!

Up for review tonight is the MIMI by Filles a Maman. I have never used a Filles a Maman pattern so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm sure by now that just about everyone out there in the sewing world has used PDF patterns so we all know that every designer does things a little differently. Sometimes we find that we absolutely fall in love with a designer and other times we find that we didn't care for a particular pattern for whatever reason.

If you can't tell by the pictures my littlest little had a blast during our photo shoot and she loved the dress.....she now calls it her "softy dress" as the knit I used is so very soft and drapes so very well....and I found it on a clearance table at my local Hancocks! SCORE!!!!

The MIMI is a very versatile pattern that has options for short sleeve or long sleeve, collar or no collar and can be made as a shirt or a dress. Because the fabric I used was very light weight we opted for no collar and I also omitted the button closure at the neck. Although it was a very cute element, I kind of prefer it the way that I made it.

The pattern starts with lots of good information on what kind of fabrics are suitable for the dress, what notions you will need, a sizing chart and a chart with finished measurements, fabric requirements, and the coolest element is that you can actually print a specific size. The sizes are color coated if you print all of them but woo hoo for being able to print only the size that you need!!! YES PLEASE!!!!

We chose to make the size 12. My littlest is only 7 but what can I say, I breed the "extra large for their age" types of kids! Both of my girls are ginormous compared to other children their age....

Any how...I found the fit to be a bit slim. The length was right on, the neck and sleeves and every other part of the dress was perfect fit....I just found the width of the actual dress to be a bit slimmer than what I have found in other size 12's.

The pattern is well written and relatively easy to understand for someone who is not a beginner. I prefer pictures of the actual item being sewn throughout the pattern and although there were pictures throughout the pattern they were computer drawn pictures as opposed to the actual garment

Another detail I left off of the dress was the belt. Although it is super cute in pictures my littlest little did not care for the look of it....and don't you know she is the fashion expert.

Overall, this is a great pattern and has a lot of versatility to it as well as a great size range of 12 months to size 14...that's a huge bonus for this mama!!! The pattern is well written with lots of helpful information and charts throughout. The pattern states that it is for a confident beginner but in my opinion it would be more for an intermediate sewist as there are not a lot of extra details throughout the pattern to help the beginner along.