An Olivine for the Holidays

Someone needed a new special occasion dress. And someone else was dying to sew up the Clever Charlotte Olivine dress.  It’s such a perfect design, isn’t it?  It has that little something that screams special but is still comfortable enough for running around and playing.

I decided to go with cotton because it’s washable.  But I also wanted something that says holiday dress.  Gold.  Blue with some gold accents.  I showed souricette 1 some possibilities and let her choose.  She went with these two fabrics.

Makower UK Speckles in blue

Makower UK Scroll in midnight metallic

For the lining, I chose plain old navy blue cotton lawn.  It’s soft against her skin, lightweight so that it doesn’t make the seams bulky.

I pretty much kept everything as is.  I did add piping to the bodice pleats to make them stand out more.  They line up with the skirt pleats pretty well but I added a sash anyway.  I wanted that contrast fabric to take up a little more space.

The instructions in the pattern were good.  I did go rogue a little.  I did my own thing for the pleats because of the piping.  I also gathered the sleeves on a smaller arc to have more of a puffed sleeve.  The lining was sewn in using the instructions from the Blake dress.  Inside, I hand stitched the lining at the armholes to keep the seam allowances nicely tucked between the layers.  Oh! I also made my first ever blind hem on the machine!  I don’t have the special blind hem foot so I used the one that’s for stitching in the ditch.  Totally putting a blind hem foot on the wishlist, though…

All in all, it was a fun experience.  A good break from Peony (are you sick of hearing about it yet?).  I’m not sure the pattern would be great for someone who needs a lot of hand holding but it isn’t hard at all.  And it’s so pretty!

Best of all though, souricette 1 loves it. (PS: Sorry for the pictures. They were taken after a special birthday party so both model and photographer were tired.)

About deuxsouriceaux

Creative mommy at home to two wonderful little girls, trying to juggle family, sewing, exercise, family, knitting, photography, and did I mention family?