We wanted to give you fair warning that the Puppet Show Tunic + Shorts and the Bubble Dress, both in size 2T-5, will only be available for a limited time.
If you’ve always wanted one of these patterns for your collection, now is the time to purchase. Once the small number we have left are sold, these styles will be out of print, and they won’t be available again. (Update: both patterns have now sold out.)
Labels: bubble dress, puppet show
Here’s a little trick that will prevent an elastic waistband from turning and getting twisted.
Leave a little extra space in the width of the casing, and edgestitch the top edge of the waistband before you feed the elastic through. For some reason, that top row of stitching will prevent the elastic from folding over on itself when the elastic is added.
You can use this little trick in any elastic waistband, but it seems to be more of an issue in waistbands that have elastic all the way around; back-only elastic waistbands have less of a tendancy to twist and turn.
Try this little tip in the Lazy Days Skirt, the Bedtime Story Pajamas, and the Puppet Show Shorts and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results!
Labels: bedtime pjs, lazy days skirt, puppet show, sewing, tutorials
I just finished making this pair of Puppet Show shorts for S. In past summers she has lived in this style, and I suspect she’ll be doing the same this year. They’re very comfortable with an elastic waistband and fullness that gets gathered into bias binding at the leg opening. But my favorite part is the pockets, which are applied near where the side seam would be. (The shorts don’t have a side seam which makes them even faster to sew up.) The pockets are fun and easy to make and look more impressive than their actual difficulty.
I used a lightweight denim for this pair, but I used the wrong side of the fabric so it looks like chambray. I’ve got a thing for chambray; it looks a little dressier than denim. But I know that because of the durability of the denim these shorts will last through a summer of sandboxes, slides and bike riding.
Labels: patterns, puppet show, sewn
The Puppet Show Tunic has lots of little details that make it different from most children’s clothing you see in stores.
At first, this pattern had a gathered skirt. But as I pushed the design a bit (nothing like the stress of a deadline to add inspiration to a design, hmmm?), I changed it to a curved seam with two little darts in the skirt. The darts add fullness, making the skirt stand out a little from the body without being too flouncy or frilly. I like the way it curves over the rounded belly of a toddler, too, so that it doesn’t constrict or prevent movement.
The cuffs are easy to sew; when they’re open, they’re a simple rectangle of fabric with a space between the ends.
When buttoned, the gap forms a little pleat that adds volume and dimension to the sleeve. This detail is actually much easier to sew than the more traditional sleeve placket, and it looks cute, too!
Labels: patterns, puppet show
Initially we called these the “bloomer shorts,” but we were afraid the name might be a bit confusing and too long (there are only so many words you can fit comfortably on the pattern envelope, after all). Still, the combined name really is an excellent description of the design; they’re more shorts than bloomers, but they have a little bit of gathering at the leg openings that hints at bloomers without being too old-fashioned. In fact, I think they’re downright modern. I’ve seen several high-fashion grown-up versions of shorts like these on the runway over the past few seasons, and they’re adorable, although perhaps not quite as adorable on me as on those chopstick-legged models. Or on little girls.
The shorts are also very simple to make. One of the downsides to combining our patterns into outfits is that one difficulty rating applies to the entire outfit. Thus, the puppet show outfit is ranked a “three scissors” difficulty. (In truth, however, it’s not really a difficult style; it just takes a bit more time and patience because of the sleeves and cuffs.) The shorts by themselves would probably be rated a one- or two-scissors difficulty level. They’re quite simple to make and come together very quickly.
Here they are in action last summer. (The tunic isn’t my design.)
Please note that there is one correction to the pattern: before attaching the bias binding at the leg opening, be sure to trim one end of the binding by 1 1/2″ to allow for the gathering and bloomer effect.
See our errata page for a diagram of the correction and for updates and revisions to the other patterns.
We’re already breaking out the bloomer shorts at our house; today it’s supposed to be in the high 70′s!
Labels: patterns, puppet show
Apparently, unbeknownst to me, Oliver + S has been publishing patterns for a really long time. I mean, look at this:
Uncanny, right? The hair, the shoes, the outfit. My Mom clipped this from the newspaper and sent it to me a few weeks ago. You’d think we had modeled our little S doll and her clothes directly from the photo!
So I confess; I’m actually 125, and although you may have just discovered our patterns, we’ve been publishing them for almost 90 years now.
We just tweak them a bit, every 88 years or so, I guess.
Labels: hmmm, puppet show
I’m thrilled to share some recent online reviews of our patterns with you:
Sew Mama Sew is an web-based fabric shop based in Oregon, with a wonderful selection of sewing patterns and fabrics. Rachael reviewed the Tea Party sundress pattern for their blog. And how cute is her daughter?
Molly of Purl Patchwork made an adorable Tea Party sundress for the Purl Bee. I love the mis-matched buttons especially. And what a great idea to use two fabrics for the skirt!
Lyra posted a thoughtful review of the Tea Party playsuit at Sewing Pattern Review. We haven’t really called much attention to the playsuit yet; it’s a great pattern for both boys and girls and is included with the Tea Party sundress pattern.
And finally, Amy of Angry Chicken is about to sew the Puppet Show tunic and shorts for her daughter using Liberty fabric, my favorite. Can’t wait to see how this turns out!
Check out the Oliver + S Flickr group for more photos of the Oliver + S clothes!
Labels: links, puppet show, tea party
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