TNT? Ottobre Girl's dress

Well, I may have to work on the TNT concept a little bit. I had sewn this pattern exactly one year ago (http://el-little.blogspot.com/2009/02/girls-in-forest.html). It's actually a baby-sized pattern, but I loved the nostalgic look and, with slight modification, fit it for my DD, then 2 years old. My pattern parts are marked "width 80", which is 1yo size, and "length 92", for a 2yo. Since children mostly put on length not width after the baby years, this worked fine. DD wore it first as a knee-length dress. She still fits into it, but wears it more as a top over pants now, a look I also adore on little girls (and a lot more playground-friendly than a dress alone).

Such a lengthy intro. All to say that altering patterns and then blindly further altering may go against the whole TNT idea which is to cut down on trial and error. I altered last year's pattern by ca. 2 inches in width (I know, what was I thinking? But 2 in. width is only 1/2 in. on every pattern part when cut on the fold, which is where I went wrong). Also, about 2 in. in length. The length was fine, but it was much too wide. I had, of course, constructed most of the dress and the lining at the point that I noticed this, so I took it in at the side seams as much as possible, and that's that. It is a little billowy now in a charming early 1900's way (or so tell myself). On the other hand, DD has decided to go all diva on me and doesn't want to wear just any lovingly constructed garment made for her anymore. Oh well. On to new shores.

A few cold, hard facts:

Pattern:

Ottobre kids fashion 1/2008 pattern no. 3 "Baby Deer Apron Top"

Fabrics:

• Soft small-whale corduroy from the Dutch fabric market (I just found out I missed this year's first fabric markets in my area, and almost cried!) for ca. 5 € per metre
  
• Poly lining remnant from another project I never managed to sew up
  
• Cotton mermaid lining fabric: Mendocino by Heather Ross quilting fabric. I love these quilting cottons and not being a quilter (so far) have to think up ways to use them so I have an excuse for buying, especially since they are so expensive in Germany (around 15-18€ per metre)!
  
• Scraps and double-sided iron-on interfacing for the birds (drawn freehand) and flowers; border by Farbenmix .

What I did differently:

The pattern has you line only the bodice which ends in the middle of the armhole, and on the rest of the armhole turn under the SA and stitch. I did this last time, and it looked very untidy, so I added binding after having the dress constructed which is a pain on tiny armholes. So this time around, and since I mean for DD to wear this as a dress, I decided on a full lining, which really facilitated a tidy construction.

As you can see in the pictures, I have not yet added buttons since I am undecided: Apricot? Blue? Or hunt for more whimsical buttons?