Oliver + S Family Reunion Dress

 

 I simply adore Oliver + S patterns! They are classically styled and have the cutest detailing. I have made both the Jump Rope dress and the Ice Cream dress in the past. They are just perfect for my little squirt and they give me great practice on my "dressmaking" skills.

 I guess I just love to make dresses because this time around I chose the Family Reunion dress. I found this fun orange floral fabric on sale at a fabric shopping excursion in Anaheim. I always gravitate toward florals and this one looked both vintage and modern at the same time, sold!

  As I said I love the detailing on this pattern and because the fabric is so busy I thought the collar and darling little placket might get lost. I decided to add piping to help it stand out a little. The amazing part is when I went to Joann's they actually had this exact shade of orange, kind of a burnt orange. Score!

 The detailing on the back includes a button placket all the way down, so darn cute! I also found little orange floral buttons at Joann's in the same shade, woot, woot!  Can you tell I was super excited about all my finds? Don't you just love when a project come together like that?
Speaking of details, I love all the little extras like simply stitching a few extra rows of stitches on the bottom of the skirt. It adds a great design element and some extra weight to the bottom to help the dress hang well.

My favorite part of the dress are all the little pleats! They didn't just make a cute dress on the front, they thought about the back too. Here are the back pleats with all the darling buttons.

And here are the front pleats with the cute little placket. I have to say I love the way the piping turned out and I'm so glad I decided to add it.

Here is little miss Charlotte in the dress. I had to chase her around the house and bribe her let me take pictures (only cost me one brownie:).

  It fits her perfectly! Thank you Oliver + S for another great pattern. You can also make this pattern into a little blouse. I may have to try that next!