A sewing blog about building a functional, cohesive handmade wardrobe, one garment at a time.

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Dotted Chambray Class Picnic

Although my girls are sizing out of my original Oliver+S pattern stash, I am lucky to have two baby nieces to sew for.  When deciding what to make my one-year-old niece, P, for Christmas, I remembered that I had really enjoyed making Class Picnics in the past.  I also had four yards of Lisette chambray in the stash.  P lives in a warm climate, so this is a seasonally appropriate sew, too.


I  sewed up the 12-18 month size.  As I was cutting, I decided to extend the blouse into a dress.  I don't even remember how much length I added.  Proportions look about right though.

When I got to the part where you hem the sleeves, I realized that I had never actually been successful hemming the sleeves of this blouse (the pattern calls for a 1.5" hem).  The first time I made the blouse, I hemmed the sleeves by hand.   On subsequent makes (six of them), I hemmed the sleeves flat, before sewing up the side seams.  I really don't like how that looks, though, so this time around I went looking for a better way.  I took a gander at the O+S discussion forums and found a suggestion to hem the sleeve from the inside.  I tried it.  Still fiddly, but it did work!


After I took these pictures, I realized I'd forgotten to remove the gathering stitches.  


I made a couple of quilting cotton rosettes and put one on an FOE headband.  I've since learned that P may not keep a headband on her head.  We'll see.


I fashioned an arrow-shaped tag out of some stash ribbon.  I could have sewn it on a big straighter.  Anyone else notice mistakes in their blog photos that they didn't notice on the live garment?

Anyway, I am very happy with how it turned out.  Hope they like it!

10 comments:

  1. What an awesome dress! This pattern was not looking familiar to me, but man, what a great one! Love this!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a sweet top. I really like the dotted fabric. It's sad when kids grow out of your favourite patterns - but it's a good excuse to buy new ones. And yes, I always notice mistakes in my blog photos! Even worse, I once found a safety-pin sewn into an elastic casing on one of R's skirts after she'd been wearing it for over a year...

    ReplyDelete
  3. So darling! Making tiny girl dresses is the best :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Definitely one of my favorite O+S patterns! It's a simple sew, but very pretty and nicely finished, and adorable on! I definitely notice mistakes poring over blog photos sometimes - especially little hanging threads! Every time!!! I agree the sleeves on this are really tough to hem, especially in the baby sizes - I've done it by hand as well, or very very slowly from the inside on the machine.

    You've made me want to make this pattern again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it early is such a great pattern. Asa many times as I have sewn the top, though, I have never made the shorts. Maybe this summer!

      Delete
    2. The shorts are awesome Masha and I bet the small size would fit your girls.

      Delete
  5. Such a pretty dress! I also love the robe you made in your previous post...it looks super comfy.:)

    ReplyDelete

Hi! I am so happy you came by. Thanks for your comment!