Oliver+S Meets the Very Hungry Caterpillar

"The next day was Sunday again.  The caterpillar ate through one nice green leaf and after that he felt much better."

Oliver+S "Ice Cream Dress"  Size 3

Every year at the end of March our school recognizes Eric Carle and his vast contribution  to children's literature.  The preschool, Pre-K, kindergarten, and first grade classes study/celebrate his works most of the month of March.  Of course, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, with its counting, days of the week, and life cycle theme is one of the books enjoyed the most.  

My little friend, Chloe, needed a special dress for the culminating all-day event at the end of the unit in her Pre-K class.  I turned to the Oliver+S "Ice Cream Dress" because the Dr. Suess dress had come out so cute and looked darling on her.  (See post here.)  This time I made the dress just a tad longer and made only one leaf shaped pocket.

Leaf shaped pocket with appliqued caterpillar.

I took the leaf shape from a Hungry Caterpillar quilting panel, appliqued it with a caterpillar from another Hungry Caterpillar fabric, and lined it with white cotton.  You can purchase fabrics from Eric Carle's fabric lines in some quilting shops but I have the best luck just buying directly from The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (HERE).

The back of the Oliver+S dress has a simple closure with a fabric loop and a pretty button.  I love this feature but if your child has a larger than average head size, it can make getting the dress on and off a tiny bit of a struggle.  For Chloe, it isn't an issue but I have read that it can be for some children.  For those children, (my own daughter would have been one of them) I would suggest making an easy continuous bound placket or a little facing piece for a couple of inches into the skirt section.

I managed to remember to bring my camera on the big day and caught Chloe at lunch in the cafeteria.  She loved her dress and received many compliments on it.

I think that this length looked perfect on her.  Needless to say, when she tried it on for me recently, it was much shorter but it fit fine otherwise.  Chloe has been going through a growth spurt!  The dress will be a tunic if she can still wear it next March!

Yay!  Ice cream!  Yay! O+S "Ice Cream"!

May all who read this have a day filled with blessings and happiness!