Oliver + S Croquet Dress

We just could not sit out this month’s Flip This Pattern!  We have been admiring the Oliver + S patterns from afar, and this month the pattern to “flip” over at Frances Suzanne was the Croquet Dress by Oliver + S.  Just the perfect excuse!  Now we have joined the exclusive club of seamstresses who have made Oliver + S patterns.

The first way we flipped this pattern is by using knit instead of woven fabric.  We are trying to adventure more into sewing with knits, and thought we’d tempt ourselves by buying knit we couldn’t resist sewing with (instead of buying knit which languished in the pile instead of being used because we were scared to cut into it!)  So we were over at Fabricworm and they were offering this fabric (which has been catching our eye everywhere!) in a knit bundle of 1/2 yard for each of the four prints.  So…we were off!  (Stay tuned for the other 3 versions in the near future!)

We love the Croquet Dress as is, but Annie is getting a little old for the drop waist style (or so she says!)  It’s a super cute style for showing off the toddler belly, but Annie isn’t a toddler anymore and has lost her toddler belly.  So our next flip was to separate the dress into a top and skirt.  (Because skirts is what we do!)

Then we decided to make the bow at waist level, but removable so the tunic top can be worn with a yellow bow…

a white bow…

or no bow at all…

We can’t decide which way we like it best!  Let us know in the comments what is your favorite version.

Of course the collar begged to have some embroidery detail, so Allegra, our embroidery master, set to work.  She copied a group of 3 birds in flight onto the collar in the exact grey color.

Then for a pop of color, she backstitched a yellow bird on the shoulder.  We decided that a little piping between the collar and the front was in order, to add to the subtle yellow accents.

In the back of the tunic top, we flipped the button and loop closure into a ribbon tie.  Partly because we love the one on Dana’s First Day Dress, and partly because Annie’s long curly hair is always escaping its confines and blowing about which means catching on that button!  (We made a different adjustment the last time we did Flip This Pattern on her Bee Outfit for the same reason!)

We took the skirt portion of the Croquet Dress and lengthened it for our skirt.

Annie requested a longer skirt, and she is growing so fast, that this length will make it wearable longer.

The subdued color scheme will take this outfit into fall as well.

Allegra once again set to work with two shades of embroidery thread and added 6 birdcages around the bottom of the skirt.  Then she added a yellow bird on the front and one on the back.

This skirt has a yellow yoga waistband which we selvaged from another skirt.  Annie loves how comfortable this makes it!

Allegra took Annie to the train station for this photo shoot.

The photos turned out so beautiful!

We plan to use this outfit in a future PR&P season for Signature Style…it has so much of our signature all over it: Allegra’s embroidery, a skirt, Annie’s taste!

We are so happy with the results of our first Oliver + S pattern.  It was easy to follow the directions, and we love the professional looking results.  We’ll definitely be sewing up some more Oliver + S patterns, and probably flipping this one again soon!