A Ruffled Liberty Playdate

March was a busy month around here. We had another Confirmation, for my second son, with both families which meant lots of cooking and cleaning beforehand.
Somehow I also managed plenty sewing in March and at the last count it was 3 ties, 4 girls dresses, 1 dress jacket for me, 1 pair of shorts, I pair of trousers and alterations of 2 dresses and 3 knit tops!

The pictures in this post are of the Playdate dress pattern from Oliver + S, though I can't seem to find a picture of it on the website

I made this dress for my daughter to wear to her brother's Confirmation in March which in Ireland can be a very cold month.

I didn't want her to have too many layers over or under it, so I used a Liberty of London corduroy (from Sewbox) for the main fabric and added a cotton voile lining.

The other changes I made to the pattern was to make the pleat bigger which meant placing the Front pattern piece about an inch back from the fold. I also made the a-line shape of the skirt much wider to give the dress more of a twirl! As well as adding lining, I added a ruffle to come below the hem of the dress. The sleeves are a little longer than the pattern, because I bound them rather than turning them up, but forgot to omit the hem allowance of the sleeve

The construction was also very different to what was in the pattern. I sewed up the front, back and bound yoke pieces of the outer fabric, and then did the same for the lining (except for binding the yoke) and then sewed the outer and inner dress together at the neckline. I topstitched the neckline then stitched down the binding of the yoke on the outside.

The shell buttons (from Raystitch) were in my stash and matched perfectly.

It's a great pattern and I'm glad I sewed it again The yoke caused me a few headaches and I sewed and ripped it quite a few times to the main fabric. But I must add that I wasn't following the pattern instructions for attaching the yoke, I was doing it my own way!!! Pin It Now!