An Oliver + S Croquet Dress For Chloe

Project Run & Play's sew-along challenge this week is for a "signature look".   With the weather here in Florida over the last few days and the fact that my son is in college on the east coast of Florida, I did very little sewing this week.  I will have to share what was intended for the challenge another time.  However, I made this little dress for sweet Chloe (my friend's daughter) last school year and never shared it here.  It embodies some of what I consider part of my sewing "signature":

• Classic Style
• Woven Fabrics
•  'Fussy" Fabric Cutting
• Top Stitching
• Mother of Pearl Buttons

This dress was part of a little 'capsule' of black & white things I made for Chloe that I will continue to share in the coming weeks.  Most of the things I made were to 'mix and match' like the set I made for Chloe recently (HERE) and this was the only dress made for that set.  I started with a lovely toile print of black and white dogs that I bought in a quilt store about ten years ago and some black/white pindot from my stash.  I decided to use an Oliver + S pattern I had never used before:  the Croquet Dress (you can find it HERE.)  What a great pattern!  Beautiful finishing details and great instructions.

Love the bow!

The back is closed with a single button and a loop and there is elastic in the waistline casing.

I was very careful to 'fussy cut' the shoulder and bodice pieces to feature and center the cute print.

Nicole of Five and Counting has wonderfully detailed tutorials on many of the Oliver + S patterns.  I found the one on the Croquet Dress HERE and utilized many of her tips.  If you look closely at the next photo, you can see that I top stitched the facing down in the back a la Nicole.  Love that tip!

Although I haven't seen the dress on Chloe very often at school, I know that she wears it to church and out with her family.  (Something about it being white.....  What was I thinking?)  In fact, it is getting a bit short on her and I just might need to make another one!

I hope that you will check out the other entries in this week's sew-along challenge HERE.  So much inspiration!  

May you see that your day is filled with blessings!