Oliver and S Ice Cream Dress

I can't believe it has been almost a couple of months since I made these, took pictures of them and am finally getting around to posting.  I got this pattern a year ago and made Claire her first ice cream dress when she was two, and I really enjoyed the pattern it's adorable.  I love that it has little faux sleeves so you don't actually have to sew sleeves on, it's just a yoke.  And like all Oliver and S patterns it looks so finished and professional on the inside.

 I also really love the double thickness hem, it is very satisfying to sew for some reason.

 Definitely wish I had ironed this better before the photo shoot but I take what I can get!

 I went shopping for this fabric specifically at ZFabric and fell in love with this wonderful Lotta Jansdotter fabric from the Glimma line.  Now I know I said that I didn't really like making the girls matchy match things, but the Ice Cream shirt below actually happened through a cutting accident, where I cut out the pieces for Claire's dress and of course cut out the main body pieces in size 12-18 months shirt piece.  So, I was forced to make Amelia a little shirt which comes with the pattern.  (View C I think).  This is what happens when you trace pattern pieces like a mad woman, forget to label them properly and leave them lying around your kitchen table for several days before finally cutting into fabric at 10:00 at night.

 Now this is actually where I have some problems with the pattern each time, where the yoke and the body get sewn together in the back, and after checking with the Oliver and S discussion forums there were several posts about fixing this. (Sorry for the blurry photo!) I haven't tried any of their tips but have stuck with the instructions to clip into the seam of the body before sewing to the yoke and each time I end up with a few raw edge pieces sticking out, even though I tried backtacking a few times over the area to avoid it.  And I tried hard to 'shove' every last piece of raw seam edge into that stitch line with some luck.  Oh well, it's not perfection but one of those things I think only an experienced seamstress would notice.  I try to just assume that people aren't looking for mistakes either, they are just noticing the overall fabric and shirt as a whole.

I have also been really pleased with how the v-notch in the neckline looks.  (Reminds me of one the neckline options on Rae's Geranium) Although another lesson I learned here is after several washes some raw threads are starting to fray through the bottom of the V, total bummer!  I must have clipped too close with new amazing embroidery scissors.  Oh well again.  Overall, I love this pattern and I love Oliver and S!