This year Clare has chosen the Oliver + s Family Reunion dress as her Christmas day dress. Appropriate really, since we will be spending Christmas day with my extended family!
I made the size 8 for Clare. She’ll be 9 in a couple of weeks, and appeared to measure at around size 6 in this pattern, but in my experience the Oliver + S patterns run more on the smaller side than the larger, so I took a punt size wise and it will be interesting to see how it fits. I’d rather it be a bit big than a bit small. Once again, the pattern was beautifully drafted and included lots of special touches. The back closes with a row of buttons.
The hem is faced and has six rows of topstitching. I did all the stitching in red for this dress, which can be risky on a lighter fabric, but has worked nicely. If you look hard you can see it in this photo. The back buttons were from Spotlight – at almost $2 per button.
I searched through stash for the decorative buttons to go on the front. These are vintage, and I cannot remember where I got them. I love the touch of gold. The dress fabric is a Spotlight poplin (not current stock) that was originally meant for a shirt for Mr Thornberry, and I used linen for the neckline facing. There are tucks on the front and back, and the short sleeves have gentle gathering at the top. Beautiful details!
Clare loves it and I can’t wait to see it on her on Christmas day!
Looks great Lara, can’t wait to see photos of it on
Ooh! Gorgeous dress in such beautiful fabric! My friend George just made the same dress for her 3 year old – it was stunning too!
Beautiful dress, love the fabric, and those red buttons on the back are lovely!
Gorgeous Lara – no wonder the designer was impressed!
[...] a photo of Clare in her Christmas Day dress (which fitted her [...]