Can I just rave again about how much I love Oliver + S patterns?  In case you haven’t heard me do this particular rave before?  I love them.  Fashionable yet classic, lovely details, beautiful finishes, sensible pdf layouts, yada yada yada.

Oh, I am SO happy with these dresses. Very, very happy! I shall now proceed to rave on about them and subject you to way too many photos. Because my girls look so adorable in them! Shall we start with Stella? Since I finished hers first.

So, for the details. The fabric: printed cotton pique from Spotlight, purchased from a discount table at the end of last year. Best bargain ever! It has the most delightful weave and texture. And I paired it with denim.

Ignore the number on the hanger, I made this in size 5. It fits her nicely. The details that I love? The tucks at the centre front of the neckline. This is repeated at the back, but with a pleat.

And check out those gorgeous little hidden pockets! Adorable!

I suppose that we should move on to Clare’s dress too, before I’ve shown you all the details and you are subjected to exactly the same thing a second time around but in different fabrications! Clare’s was from the same Spotlight pique, but in an alternative colourway. The solid brown fabric is that faux stretch suede type fabric, and was a gift from a destashing friend. Thank you!

This time I made size 8 for Clare (now aged 10 and a half). Once again, it’s a nice fit. Same lovely details.

Aren’t those little white flower buttons sweet? And we had exactly the right number! The sleeve cuffs are very straightforward. There is no placket, they just fold the sleeve in to narrow it with a button and buttonhole. Actually, there is nothing very difficult about the construction of this dress, and the instructions are excellent.

Should I be concerned when my children start copying my typical blog modelling poses?

Or just be happy that they are being cooperative and are doing their best to show off a variety of views of the garments?

A non-sewing, non-blogging friend of mine thought that last photo was like a “naughty child, face the wall” photo. That wasn’t the intention!

And I really love that I’ll get to see Stella wearing Clare’s dress when she’s older. Win win! I still have a few Oliver + S patterns in stash that I haven’t made up yet. Most of them are summer patterns. Expect to see that remedied before Christmas!

Oh, I forgot to say! It’s the Book Report Dress! I bought a digital version – very handy when you want to make more than one size.