mommy and girl

When I was a little girl I loved dressing my dolls like me.  I guess that hasn’t changed because I have officially made mother-daughter tops!

Here we have Simplicity 1879, the Lisette Souvenir blouse and its inspiration, the Oliver and S Picnic blouse. I fell for the picnic blouse the minute it debuted last spring and it’s quickly becoming one of those pieces I make every season. (Remember the cozy flannel version for winter play?)  So it’s no wonder that I also really liked the grown up version Liesl revealed a few weeks ago. I ran out almost right away to buy up all the new Lisette patterns. That Friday, I found this deep butter yellow linen at my new fav store on Fabric Row. It’s a medium weight but it has a very open weave. I put the blouse together over the weekend with very little fuss.

Normally, I don’t love square necks, but the rounded yoke softens this one a little. The finished bust is generous, but I could see it needed a little design ease to hang properly. Rather than a proper FBA, I simply added an inch to the center front by placing the pattern a half inch from the fold. Then I pulled the gathers up a little more to fit. I also added a lot of length to both the sleeves and the hem. This top is designed to hit at the high hip, but I don’t like to worry about exposing my muffin top while I’m wrangling squirmy little ones!  I also added length in the sleeves so they end at a narrow part of my forearm rather than the widest. I suggest you check the finished measurements before cutting. A quick tissue fit should do it.

In short, I like the pattern very much. It is a forgiving and flattering top with a casual but feminine shape that skims over wobbly bits. The gathers softly accentuate the bust and the wide neckline really opens up the face. The back neck is low, which will be very comfortable on sticky summer days.

The finishing of this top is indeed clever! You’ll have to read the instructions for yourself, maybe even a few times as I did, but essentially, the yoke facing encases the yoke seam and the upper raglan sleeve seams. The shoulders are finished with bias, like the picnic blouse. Rather than elastic, seams at the top of the sleeves give the blouse shape at the shoulders. I made French seams at the sides and sleeves and then set the sleeves in the round so that I could press the French seams in opposite directions where they met at the underarm. This reduced the bulk and allowed me to bind the lower armscye seams with a lightweight voile. This fabric was a little on the heavy side for French seams, but the open weave raveled so very much that it was the only option.

Kitty’s fabric is a very fine cotton shirting I found a few weeks before at the same shop. I finished her Picnic Blouse the same way. It was a little trickier with the elastic, but ultimately the best thing. I didn’t have to clip the elastic short because it was encased by the yoke facing and I had some extra stitching to keep it in place. The elastic in my winter versions pulled out and was impossible to fix. This won’t happen here!

I dressed us up like this for a playdate last Friday afternoon in the hopes that maybe a certain talented photographer might offer to snap a few pics. Can you believe these were taken amidst the chaos of *six* small children running around? Thanks, Amanda!

playground jacket

The Sunday Brunch Jacket was always my favorite Oliver + S pattern. When Liesl announced it was going out of print, I think I had just found out the baby would be a girl and so I quickly bought up both sizes. It’s hard to believe this is the first time I’m actually making it.

The genius of this pattern – as in many Oliver and S patterns – is that it combines real practicality with great looks. The sweet mandarin collar is comfortable. Most children’s coats have collars that are nearly impossible to close properly under small chins and are therefore in the way.  This one adds a little warmth without getting in the way.

 The swing style of the coat allows great ease of movement, which is so important for little ones. I love the gathers! 

 In fact, it's so easy to move around in that Kitty soon decided sitting on the step modeling was much less interesting than climbing.

And running away.

The cuteness of the pattern is undeniable. Browsing Flickr, you can see that it looks good in cord, velveteen, wool, novelty prints, suiting fabrics and even fleece.

Bound seams are the suggested finish and a beautiful option, but I chose to bind only some of the seams. I wanted to use a printed cotton lawn – the same one I used as an accent on her pink Playdate dress – and I found in the past that the inside looks a little too busy for my taste when every single seam is bound in something colorful. Also, if I’m honest, the bound seams are quite time consuming and I just didn’t want to.  

So, I finished the shoulder, arm and sides with flat felled seams, which are really well suited to the cotton twill fabric I chose for this. Flat felled seams also helped reduce bulk in this thicker fabric where they joined other seams. I actually did them inside out so they’d be a little more subtle. Flat felled seams are a lovely and comfortable finish and might be my favorite.

I bound the edge of the facing, the ruffled seams and the armscyes with the very lightweight cotton lawn, the same one I used for the piping and facings of the pink playdate dress. I'm pleased with the more balanced pop of color on the inside.

 There was one hiccup with the construction. My automatic buttonhole was defeated by the bound seams were too close to the buttonhole location. With a completely finished jacket, the half done button holes were very upsetting! After unpicking all the knots left by the frustrated automatice process, I finished them manually with the machine’s zig zag stitch. They don’t look very nice and they’re not holding up well. Fortunately, when it’s buttoned, the buttonholes aren’t visible. Next time, I might try a hand stitched buttonhole. I saw that technique in an English sewing book and have been curious to try it. Or, I might use snaps instead and have buttons just for show. It’s a bit much to button all four of those under her chin.

 

Kitty has actually been wearing it for a while now and I’m telling you I get a compliment every single time.  I plan to make this one over and over again.

Playdate reveal

Recently, I shared the details of how to finish the yoke, but I never gave you the full reveal. I hoped to show you how adorable the Playdate dress looks on a toddler. It looks as if it will be a while before I can get some modeled shots of Miss K's spring wardrobe. 16 months is a fun, happy little age - but it isn't a cooperative one! She is constantly on the move, climbing, jumping, squirming and running off in the other direction with a gleeful giggle. So, for now you'll have to settle for hanger shots.

 Since I've made this a few times in the past year, I was growing tired of the buttons and ruffles. When Clever Charlotte prediced bows for this season, I had an aha moment. I made the bow from a bias tube and stitched it to the front of the yoke by hand. After wearing, however, it tends to flop, so I think I may have to stitch it down more.

 The sleeve pleats are one of my favorite details of this pattern. I chose a tiny bias finish here to balance the flat piping under the yoke.



 Even though the hem facing and yoke facing aren't highly visible, I really love the little bits of floral peeking out. It's fun to have secret details like that.

This is poplin from Robert Kaufmann and the floral is a very fine cotton lawn by Lecien. The poplin rumples a little in wear, which helps it keep it casual.

I cut this dress to a tunic length for optimum toddler mobility.  I also skipped the pockets. We just don't need them yet. For now, we mostly pair it with dark blue leggings, but I see this with bloomer shorts when the weather gets warmer. I'm also planning some skinny pants in colors to match her spring wardrobe. Before I can move on the pants, though, I need to get moving on two items I pledged to our quickly approaching auction!