Jamie Makes the Oliver & S Schoolbus tee into...A dress!

Pattern: Oliver & S Schoolbus Tee (top) AND Bulding Block Dress (skirt)
Size: 3T top and skirt with 4T length on the skirt
Fabric: Art Gallery Skopelos Jersey Knit Paparounes Crimson
Notions: 1/4" elastic to gather the skirt

Thoughts: I've wanted to try this for a long time. My older daughter loves to wear dresses to school and I love it when her dresses are easy for her to play in. I don't usually sew precious clothing; I want my clothes to get worn and be loved! So I thought I'd try it out. I had some of this knit left over from making my metro tee earlier this year and I was able to squeeze this outfit out while still having a bit more for something else. I bound the neckline and armholes using this tutorial from IndieSew. It's my favorite way to bind necklines and I don't think I'll do it any other way from now on.

My daughter is a skinny minnie but also getting taller, so I cut a 3T in the top and skirt, but extended the skirt to 4T length. It took me about three hours to sew this dress. I already had the pattern pieces traced from her Snow White dress and previous t-shirts, so if you had to trace I'd say you could do this in 3.5 hours.

I used knit elastic to gather the skirt and from what she tells me, it's very comfortable. There is also a good twirl factor, which is in demand among the preschool set. I can't wait to make more of this style of dress for her! It's a good one for playing, yoga, sleeping, etc. and the fabric retains very well.

Jamie Makes New Look 6107

Pattern: New Look 6107 (View D)
Size: 16
Fabric: Navy cotton eyelet lined with navy quilting cotton (both from Joann Fabrics)
Notions: 7" zipper

Thoughts: This was my first time sewing a pattern that wasn't Oliver & S or Liesl & Co. I was apprehensive because I'm used to the thorough directions from Liesl, but I soldiered on. I was correct in thinking that this one was going to be somewhat more difficult because of the directions, but I kept a RTW pencil skirt that I already owned next to me to look at the construction when I got confused. Other than that, I'm really happy with it!

The fabric was a dream to work with. I wasn't sure how the eyelet would cut, but it was very easy going with my rotary cutter. The fabric also has a wide border edge, so I utilized that when cutting my kick pleats. I went with quilting cotton as the lining because it's summer in Kentucky, so I wanted a nice natural fabric up against me. I did run out of  lining fabric for the waistband facing, so I pieced it together with a nice pink and white quilting cotton from my stash. It makes me happy to have that happy kick of pink on the underside.

Notes on construction:

• There is a TON of ease in this pattern. My body measurements put me in an 18 but the finished garment measurements put me in a 16 and honestly I could probably go down to a 14 but it would be a little tight in the waist (but fit well everywhere else). Next time I make this, I think I will cut out a 14. I hope to be a little slimmer then as I'm still slowly losing baby weight after having my second daughter.
• Make sure you don't sew your lining to the wrong side of your skirt panel. Ha. That was fun to unpick.  
• I think I'll do the facing a bit differently next time. I didn't really like the way that they had you enclose the bottom raw edges. It said to turn under 1/4", but that was really too narrow. Next time I'll turn under 1/2" and then I think the raw edge will be caught by the top stitching on the outside.