I recently went through Clare’s wardrobe and moved a whole lot of outgrown clothes over to Stella’s. But I still couldn’t resist making an Oliver + S Roller-skate dress for Stella, despite the number of dresses already hanging in her wardrobe.

I made Stella’s dress in a size 6, and think it’s a good fit overall. The fabric came from an online fabric shop a couple of years back. Such a sweet print and colour combination!

The elastic casing is the easiest thing ever, since the dress is fully lined and the casing is simply stitched through the two layers. The little cap sleeves are also cut in one with the bodice. Actually, for this simple round neck dress there are basically just two pattern pieces – front and back.

I was able to use a vintage button for the back closure, but she can actually get it on and off without undoing it. Unless she tangles her hair up in the button, that is. But one of the best things about this dress? When I realised that the lining was essentially the same as the outer, I decided to make it reversible.

This beautiful voile is such a terrific colour on Stella! To make it reversible I just left both the “outer’ and the “lining” the same length, then turned up the hems to the inside individually, matched them up, and top-stitched them together.

I wonder which one will become her favourite?

Stella has been known to turn her reversible garments inside out and outside in a number of times a day in the past. It gets quite confusing!

She definitely keeps us all entertained!

Another Oliver + S pattern – the Roller-skate dress.

I have run out of new things to say about Oliver + S patterns. They are reliably well drafted, have great instructions and always include some special little details. I bought this one in the pdf version, which works well when sewing for different sizes. I just print it out twice and cut out the size I want each time!

The pattern has a full lining for this dress, but I decided to just line the bodice in this version. The skirt (and neckline trim) fabric is a medium weight woven jacquard, and I didn’t think that it would require a lining. The printed bodice fabric came to me from Miss Dawson’s stash, and I have no idea about the composition. I love the colours, and it was a happy fluke when I put it on the table next to the skirt fabric – a perfect match!

The back closes with a feature button and fabric loop. Clare chose the version of the dress with the front notch and contrast facing. It was quite straightforward to sew. Next time I make it I might lower the elastic casing a little – I think it’s a fraction high as it is. I sewed this in size 8, and possibly could have considered going up a size. Clare is growing!

And to finish off, a photo of Clare in one of my typical blog photo poses!