Next up on the Oliver + S fall pattern preview is the
Playtime Dress, Tunic + Leggings (available in sizes 6M-12). After consulting with my client (aka my daughter), she chose the dress (View A) because she is more of a dress (with tights) kind of girl rather than a tunic with leggings kind of girl, at least for the time being. Which is totally fine by me, after all I do love making dresses (I'm pretty sure you have guessed that by now).
This one is the easiest and quickest pattern to sew up from the 3 new fall patterns. Our favorite detail in this dress? The pockets! My girl insists on having pockets on the majority of her clothing items, so what a bonus that pockets are included in this design (now I don't have to figure out how to add them myself)! And how I love that they are topstitched and also sewn all the way through the layers of the pockets and the front of the skirt, so the pockets stay nice in place all the time (so much easier ironing the pockets with them that way, too). Another detail I like is the understitching at the neckline to keep the facing from showing when the dress is worn, a nice professional touch.
After attaching the skirt to the bodice it says to finish the seam allowances using your preferred method. Lately I've been using bias binding to finish the bodice/skirt seam in a coordinating fabric. Just a little hidden detail that I'm loving at the moment.
Playtime was a great pick for a name because it is very roomy and she can definitely run around and play in it. I think it has a bit of a super cute Japanese sewing book vibe going on, don't you think? I have a bunch of gray linen in my stash, maybe I'll make a Playtime tunic in that...
I predict we will be seeing all different types of Playtime Dress/Tunic/Leggings all over blogland in the future as it is such a nice and simple silhouette. The Playtime pattern reminds me of the
Rollerskate Dress/Tunic in that the design is like a blank canvas, ready for you to play with. With the options of woven or knit fabrics, the sky is the limit. You could really have fun with
color blocking with this design. How about something in knits like the first one
here? As of right now, I already have plans for a couple of future outfits using this sewing pattern. Church choir has a dress code of white top, black bottom, so I was thinking of doing color block dress with white sleeves and bodice with a black skirt, but on the white top maybe trying something black for the faux collar, like the heat-set pearls idea shown
here.
Project Details
Pattern: Oliver + S Playtime Dress, Tunic + Leggings (difficulty level: 2 out of 4 scissors)
Size: 5
Modifications: I sewed the dress which is View A, but with the topstitched collar from View B.
Fabrics:
Dress:
Heather Ross, Briar Rose, Strawberry in pink (woven)
Bias binding (on the bodice/skirt seam):
Heather Ross, Briar Rose, Calico in pink (woven)
Notions: Three 5/8 inch red buttons from my stash
Inspiration: The word 'playtime', I used the Briar Rose line because I find it to be very playful and cute for girl's and doll's clothing. Maybe we will see other variations of the Playtime pattern done in Heather Ross' Briar Rose fabric line especially since they are available in both woven and knit prints.
I couldn't resist sharing a few photos of just the Popover Doll dresses I sewed up. I have sewn up some
size 8 Popover Sundresses, but had never sewn up the doll version. They sure turn out teeny tiny and adorable, don't they?
Doll dress pattern:
Oliver + S Popover Doll Dress which is for an 18 inch doll. Our doll dresses look a little on the long side and that is due to the fact that our dolls are 15 inch baby dolls (she is saving up her money to buy her first 18 inch doll, though).
Fabrics: Heather Ross, Briar Rose,
Strawberry in pink (woven) and
Calico in pink (woven)
See you soon, up next is the
Art Museum Vest + Trousers (girl's look).
