The Ice Cream Dress, a pattern by Oliver & S

This is the first piece of clothing I've sewn from an honest to goodness-came in a little paper envelope pattern!  I opened one up once.  Once.  But I got overwhelmed and folded it back up, and now it's in the attic somewhere.  Since I loved the patterns in the "Little Things to Sew" Oliver & S book, though, and since my sewing skills have been vastly improved since I opened that last pattern, I figured I'd give this pattern a try.  And now, in true form, I'm tempted to make 2 dozen of these dresses.  Yup, I'm in love.

Since the pattern is called the "Ice Cream Dress," I thought it would be only right to use ice cream print fabric.  This fabric is form the Lisette line, which is designed by Liesl Gibson... who is also the creator of Oliver & S.  Go figure!  It's cotton, but lightweight, soft, and hangs so nicely.  It seems perfect for warm weather, and more importantly, it seems like a fabric that Raina will actually let touch her skin.  (Right now she is partial to fleece and jersey, and that's about it!)

The first thing I did was fold the fabric in half and pin down all the pattern pieces.  Wait, no.  The FIRST thing I did was give my husband the giant pattern pieces so he could take them to work and photocopy them :)  Then I cut the pieces out. So I guess the third thing I did was pin the pattern down.  Do you see what I did wrong?  I was impressed that I was able to fit all the pieces onto one yard of fabric... but the pocket pieces are sideways!  I did realize it before I cut... but after a quick look through my stash, I did find any pocket fabric alternatives I was happy with.  I did turn the fabric back over and see how I felt about the fabric lying sideways for the pockets, and I decided I liked the way it looked.  So onward I went!  Pin, cut, pin, cut, pin, cut, pin...  Until all the pieces were ready.

Then I started to read the directions at 11 PM.  Mistake.  I was pretty sure I was reading latin!  They made much more sense during naptime the next day, though.  Phew!  I did search the interwebs and find an old Sew-a-long that was incredibly helpful, though!  The directions are actually really easy to follow, but there were a few times when a picture was truly worth a thousand words!

Specifically, the pockets.  This is my first really real pocket.  In the past, I've created a pocket like shape and tacked it down, but this is a for realz pocket and I am oh so proud of it and it's oh-so-cute notched V!  (Even if one is puckered a bit.  But honestly, if I had clipped in any closer I would have gotten the seam!)

It got to a point where I could see the pieces becoming a dress, not just weird shapes and seams, and I got SUPER excited.  No lie.

And then, 4 days later (hey, my sewing time is limited to bedtime and naptime!), I did a happy dance as I topstitched my last seam!  Hooray!  

Raina, Lucca, and I made a quick trip to the store to get an ice cream button... and ended up with this :)  It is really large and obnoxious, but the only other option was teeny teeny teeny tiny.  Jason pointed out that Raina wont be able to sit in a carseat with this button against her back.  We'll see.  The button I would really love is from Etsy...  Yum Yum Ice Cream Button  But I'm all about instant gratification, and I can walk to JoAnn's in 5 minutes.

So there it is.  My first Ice Cream Dress!  I'm thinking one for Lucca with matching bloomers next.  And I would love to make a blouse length one for Raina from some cute print fabric.  Oh, the wheels are turning!!