I sew for my gdtrs, too, and it is great fun. I've made that dress a couple times! May I suggest you begin with version b if you've never sewn before as the neckline will be easier for a first-timer, and it is just as cute.

Pattern sizes for children are fairly forgiving, and a style like this one is very forgiving. It is a twirly dress the four yo will love. If you need to adjust anything, it will be length.

To make gathering easy as pie, try this instead of pulling the bobbin basting thread: on the wrong side, lay a length of thin yarn or heavy thread (I use one strand of 4-ply candle wicking) just inside the seam line and zigzag over it, being careful not to catch the pull-thread in the zigzag. Then just pull the pull-thread from both ends until you meet your marks on the section you are applying it to and, viola! easy gathering! You can leave the pull-thread in the seam. It won't show.

Happy sewing to you. I hope you get hooked...I've been sewing for 40 years, have made hundreds of garments, and still have a ball sewing dresses for my five little gdtrs and two gsons, as well as their parents.

Ack! I don't make dresses for my gsons or their fathers! But you knew that, right?

Thank you, Sherrmann, for your response and tips.