Today I made two Oliver + S Popover Sundresses. Its a FREE pattern. Essentially it’s a pillowcase dress with bias tap armholes that go into straps. I had made a pillowcase dress previously using ribbon for straps but had not made the ribbon a permanent part of the dress so it hasn’t been worn. You try to wrangle an 11 month old into a tube and then have her hold still while you cinch up ribbons around her arms and neck. Of course they immediately put the ribbon in mouth and the dress threatens to fall apart. I’ve since fixed that problem. The Popover Sundress is easier because the straps are permanently attached! I also picked this one inspired by the Project Run and Play Popover Remix challenge they did during season 7. I figured I should make it correctly before I attempt “remixing” it.
I was super-inspired by Caila Made’s Dressy Hexi and hope to do something that cool in the future. In retrospect I could have done something like that with the chevron, making the peaks and valleys part of the yoke. Next time. I had to hem up quite a bit even after cutting off 1.5 inches. My girls have the circumference of 2T patterns but not the length and I keep making extra big hems to allow myself to let it out later. This also ends up making a problem when the bottom of the skirt is so much bigger than the area I bring it up to hem.
Instead of exactly following the directions I went ahead and made the total amount of bias tape I’d need ahead of time using the awesomely simple bias tape maker tool-
In one end goes two inch wide bias-cut fabric and out the other end is single fold 1 inch or double fold 1/2 inch! Huzzah! I imagine this makes putting this dress together go much faster.
I think tomorrow the girls need matching diaper covers, don’t you?
What I learned today–
Just cut off the long length you don’t need for that dress! It makes the hem on an A line a mess otherwise.
Use the hand wheel to stitch through a tiny length of multiple layers of fabric (the ends of the bias tape straps).
Sewing By Doing 