Pattern review: Oliver + s ice cream social dress and tunic

So, the little girl needed a new dress to wear to Aunt Roommate and Uncle Tom's wedding.  Right?  And I really wanted to make one because I'm crazy and didn't have anything else to do.  Haha.  I looked through my patterns and decided to finally try one of the Oliver + s patterns I picked up on clearance at Creative Crafts last year.  They were only $4.50 each (normally around $15)!  I'm kicking myself for not buying more, but oh well.  I only had the larger sizes pattern, so I guessed on sizing it down to around a 2T, and made a tunic to check the sizing first.  I love, love, love the tunic.  I used some leftover fabric of some dresses and bloomers I made last year, and it is really adorable with some jeggings.  Little girl will wear this one a lot she looks so darn cute in it.  I adjusted the pattern a little with the dress, and tried color-blocking with a couple Kona solids (tangerine and pomegranate maybe?) and a print I got from Joann's.  I had made some bloomers last year out of the same pink, so we lucked out there.  Little girl loved her dress!  She calls it her "aunt roommate uncle tom wedding dress".  Bit of a mouthful.  I wish I had pictures of the little girl wearing the dress, but I don't think it would ever get blogged about if I waited for that.  Plus, it gets a few more berry and watermelon stains on them every time she wears it...

 

 

Stella wore the tunic in family pictures (the day before Charlotte was born), so I have some terrific photos of it.  We love Marci for family photos.  She can get real smiles and personality out of kids like no one's business.  And she has a fun blog.  Here's a few photos from that session:

Oh, the cuteness.  It's a bit overwhelming at times. 



Here are some more details on the pattern: 

Pattern:  Oliver + s ice cream dress sizes 5-12.  Blouse and dress with a button and loop closure and sweet v-notched neck. 

Size I sewed:  About a size 2

Material used:  Fabrics from my stash for the blouse and from Joann's for the dress (sorry, I don't remember what the dress print was called.)

Notions needed:  A button. 

Appropriately rated:  Rated advanced beginner, but I had no trouble at all with it, and I would consider myself a beginner. 

Comments: This was the first Oliver + s pattern I made and I've fallen in love!  I felt like I could learn how to sew from this pattern.  It turned out terrific, and I learned a few techniques from it that I'll apply in other projects.  I'd only sewed with Butterick and McCall patterns up to this point, and it felt like angels were singing the whole time I was sewing.   I would definitely recommend this pattern!