Clare didn’t actually wear this dress for her school photo – it’s just the name of the Oliver + S pattern! It’s always school uniform here for school photos. I’ve been “collecting” Oliver + S patterns for a while now, and am making a very concerted effort to use them. They always result in a lovely garment – the designer really has a flair for beautiful children’s clothes.  They are relatively expensive, but I think that they are absolutely worth it – especially when I am likely to make the pattern up more than once in different sizes for each daughter.  Clare’s School Photo Dress was sewn in size 8.

There are two collar and sleeve options for this dress. Clare chose the simple retro-styled roll collar, which is cut on the bias, and straight sleeves with a bias cuff around the bottom. The other option is a ruffled collar and sleeves with the bottom gathered into a band. Clare didn’t cuff the sleeve. We also decided not to sew a button and loop to the back of the roll collar to keep it in the rolled shape at the back, but instead left it to lie open.

And check that invisible zipper insertion! I am getting SO good at these! The fabric is from Sandi Henderson’s Meadowsweet line. I am extremely pleased with my fabric/pattern pairing for this dress – I think that the two complement one another beautifully. The dress is princess seamed at the front and the back, and in between the princess seams at the front is a kangaroo style pocket!

The body of the dress is lined with a pale pinky-beige voile that has been hiding in stash, semi-faded, for some time. A perfect lining fabric.

We both love this dress (although Mr Thornberry did wonder if his daughter was wearing it back to front).  Like some of the other garments that I’ve sewn recently, this has been sitting in my “cut-out-and-ready-to-sew” box for a little while. I am making a big effort to empty that box within the next couple of weeks – so that I can fill it up again before I go to Sewjourn in early November! This time I’m aiming at completing six garments – two for me, two for Stella, and two for Clare – and anything else will be a bonus. I’m even considering making a shirt for Mr Thornberry. And I definitely want to get some more sleep than I usually do when I go to Sewjourn! I know that at least three of the other Sewjourners will be sewing Oliver + S patterns that weekend – it will be fun to see how they all turn out!  But in the meantime, there are clothes to sew, other clothes to cut out, and a work conference to attend in SURFERS PARADISE (!!!!!!!) in less than two weeks time….