A week or two ago I had a little brainstorm one morning and dropped into the Oliver + S discussion forums to ask if anyone wanted to give it a try. In fact, several people expressed an interest. Here is the original idea, roughly explained:

And here are the results. First, from Karmela G:

and from Jeanne Po (with further details here):

They both turned out so cute, and with so little explanation on my part! Anyone else care to try? Or to share an embellishment idea for one of the patterns?

We’ve fielded a lot of Formspring questions over the past few weeks, several of which have asked about how much sewing I do for S and what her wardrobe looks like.

I’m no Supermom, and I don’t even try to set myself the goal of making everything she wears. But we do have fun mixing and matching her wardrobe with things I’ve made and things we’ve purchased or have been given.

This weekend it was pretty cold here in New York, and yesterday we were meeting a friend for brunch. We wanted to wear lots of layers to stay warm on our walk to the restaurant. S chose her tights first, so that’s how her outfit started: with the mid-sized polka dot print. We picked out a long-sleeved thermal shirt for warmth, and layered a kimono-style top over it. (Yes, the Bedtime Story PJ top makes a great shirt, too.)

The floral print in the top was our large-scale print. Then we added the mini polka dot Sailboat skirt and topped it all off with her brown cardigan. There were a lot of patterns happening in this outfit, but we tried to pull it together with a tight color palette (brown and aqua) and a variety of scales in the patterns.

Sometimes it’s fun to do serious mixing and matching like this. Don’t feel limited to mixing only the tops and the bottoms that come together in the pattern envelope.

The newest Oliver + S trunk show has been booked for the remainder of the summer. If you’re in the area, stop by one of our retailers to participate in the activities they will be hosting in conjunction with the show.

You can see the trunk show at the following locations:

• Waechter’s Silk Shop Asheville NC, June 2-June 15
• Seams Like Home Quilt Shoppe, Anchorage AK, June 19-July 3
• Colonial Quilts, Savannah GA, July 10-July 24
• Bay Window Quilt Shop, Perham MN, July 30-August 13
• The Stitchin’ Post, Sisters OR, August 18-September 7

Tiny rickrack also adds a feminine detail to this Sailboat Top where it was applied to the topstitching. April used a special tool for this step, but you could also apply the rickrack over topstitching or by using basting as a guide. I think the miniature rickrack enhances the sweet Little Red Riding Hood fabric and, again, adds some visual interest to a pattern that can be made for boys and girls.

The new Oliver + S spring trunk shows have started making their way across North America. Here are a few photos of the garments traveling in one of our shows.

The first four stops scheduled are:

• Cloth & Bobbin, Narberth PA, March 28-April 7
• Bobbin’s Nest Studio, Santa Clara CA, April 15-April 23
• Olive Juice Quilt Shop (formerly A Stitch in Time), Onalaska WI, April 27-May 7
• Hip Stitch, Albuquerque NM, May 12-25

We’ll be adding to this list over time, so stay tuned for more locations and dates.

If you are a retailer and would like to book a trunk show for your shop, please email us for details.

If you’re in New York, be sure to stop by Purl Patchwork on Sullivan Street to see their Oliver + S window display.

Purl is well-known for its outstanding selection of fabrics. The staff stocks beautiful Japanese prints, a wide selection of Liberty tana lawn, and a number of other exquisite offerings inside this jewel box of a shop.

For these samples Purl selected a sweet floral Liberty print for the Birthday Party Dress and paired it with a coordinating Kona cotton solid for the tab. Because Liberty prints are very light-weight and ever-so-slightly sheer, we used a white cotton lawn for the facings to be sure they didn’t show through. (The Liberty print sold out within two days of setting up the window display, so I’m sorry I can’t give you a link to it.)

The Sailboat Top and Pants are made from a fresh architecture-inspired Anna Griffin print and a Kona cotton.

We raided the fantastic button selection at Purl’s yarn shop just down the street for the finishing touch. Those buttons on the pants are wool felt!

And here are some views of the window from inside the store. How about those giant paper dolls?

I thought you might like to see a trunk show we’ve just put together for one of our distributors, Brewer Quilting and Sewing Supplies. Retail stores who carry our patterns sometimes order through distributors, and Brewer wanted to highlight their wide selection of silk dupioni fabrics as well as the quilting cottons of Benartex, who they also represent. Together, we selected the fabrics for these samples that Brewer will display in their showroom, at trade shows, and at some of their retail customers.

The varying stripes of the Sailboat Top remind me of what is often called an “awning stripe” in the fashion industry.

The pants are a sort of variation on a gingham check, with circles in the center of the squares.

I like the combination of silk dupioni with printed cotton on the Tea Party Sundress. And the flat piping in the skirt is also silk, which dresses it up and adds a little texture and variety to the skirt.

You might notice that for the Birthday Party Dress, we widened the ties by an inch to give them a softer, dressier appearance. I think this dress looks ready for a summer wedding. Flower girl, perhaps? Junior bridesmaid? The pleats on the skirt are left unpressed for a softer appearance that suits the big bow and the hand of the silk, I think.

Printed cotton fabrics are as follows:

Sailboat Top: Benartex “City Girl” by Kitty Yoshida, Bar Code Stripe Blue/Green, Style 2318, Color 55
Tea Party Sundress: skirt is Bentartex “City Blooms” by Kitty Yoshida, Yellow/Graphite, Style 2319, Color 12
Sailboat Pants: Benartex “City Girl” by Kitty Yoshida, Squared Bolts, Steel Blue, Style 2317, Color 50

I have a favorite pair of canvas sailor pants. They’re French (of course). They’ve got wide legs. They are about as flattering as a pair of pants can be. Did I mention that they’re really comfortable, too?

I was thinking about them when I designed the Sailboat pattern. I didn’t look at my pants for details, though, because I wanted this pattern to be entirely built from the memory of those pants–all the things I love about them, but mostly the feel of them.

Kids’ pants tend to be really detailed and tedious to sew. Boys’ clothing tends to be overly fussy (pockets and zipper flies and elaborate topstitching) or really boring and plain. (Fashion tip: never send your son to school in pants that look like pajama bottoms.)

These unisex pants are neither of the above. They’re easy to sew. Really easy to sew. And easy to wear. Even if your child can’t do a button by himself or herself, the elastic at the back waist will come to the rescue. They’re completely pull-up if need be. But the details are what make them fun.

And as long as we’re at it, why not add a skirt? Same details as the pants but in a sweet A-line, short skirt that’s as appropriate for the playground as it is for school. (I’m thinking about the skirt for girls, here. But, hey, Oliver + S was born in New York’s East Village where anything goes. So if you have a boy who likes to wear A-line skirts, you’ve got our permission to go for it.)

My favorite fabrics for both the pants and skirt are solid-colored cottons and linens. Linen is great for kids’ clothing because it’s really strong, looks better with wear, and gets softer every time you wash it. I adore the look of un-pressed linen–especially when it’s just out of the wash. But wouldn’t the pants and skirt be cute in a fun stripe or print? My first pants and skirt samples were made in mattress ticking and turned out awfully cute. And what about using silk dupioni for a dressy look?

And, although it’s still early, why not start thinking about fall here? Last autumn I made both the skirt and the pants from a cotton herringbone tweed, and S got tons of wear from them. And they looked great with nearly everything in her closet. So great, in fact, that I wanted them for myself.

By the way, you’ll notice that the cover of this pattern features our S doll with the top and skirt But guess what? The back of the envelope features the Oliver doll with the pants and top. We wanted to include both dolls and thought it would be fun if the pattern envelope had two sides. So don’t be misled: you’ll get all three patterns in the envelope.

We always take customer feedback seriously, and one thing we’ve heard clearly in the last year is that people want more patterns for boys’ clothing.

Most boys’ tops are either T-shirts (no fun to make, in my opinion) or shirts with collars and plackets and cuffs and such. In other words, they have a lot of fiddly details that can be very tedious to sew.

Instead of doing something along these lines, I wanted to design an outfit that would be fun, a little different from the norm, appropriate for both boys and girls, and relatively easy to sew at the same time.

While I was contemplating all this, it occurred to me that I adore my old French navy shirt. It’s a little slouchy and very comfortable. I love the navy and white stripes, the soft knit French terry, and the buttons at the shoulder. “Hey!” I thought, “That would be such a great style to re-interpret for kids.” This is my version of that beloved shirt.

Not only can this pattern be sewn from a printed cotton, linen, or other woven fabric, but it’s also great for knits. I made this green-and-white striped sample with interlock, which is my favorite knit fabric because it’s a bit more substantial than jersey and doesn’t curl up the way that jersey tends to do. A couple of friends have been telling me about the many new knit fabrics that are available, which is great because it used to be so difficult to find them. The worst part of sewing with knits is finding matching rib trim. But that’s not a problem with this pattern, fortunately, as it doesn’t require any trim.

For this garment, I stitched the interlock pretty much the same way I sew any woven fabric. I don’t have a serger or use any special stitches on my machine, so obviously those of you who have more experience stitching with knits will be able to do many more interesting things than I did here. One thing I did do, though, is to put a heavier thread in my bobbin when I did the topstitching. And I love the result I got. The stitching really stands out and doesn’t get swallowed up in the stretchy fabric the way ordinary topstitching might.

This top can also be dressed up with luxurious fabrics. Linen or silk with carved mother-of-pearl buttons for a girl? Beautiful.

And what about adding appliques to a solid or a woven stripe (horizontal, if you please) for everyday play? (Never done an applique? I did a tutorial on disdressed a couple years ago that you might want to read.) I’m envisioning all sort of fun designs you could add. Ice cream cones. Lobster. Dinosaurs. Oooh, robots!

You could also use the freezer paper stencil and instructions from the Sandbox Pants pattern to paint fun shapes onto the shirt using fabric paint, which is fast and easy and actually fun to do with kids.

Anyway, the Sailboat top is is seriously the easiest shirt to sew. It comes together in no time, and the sleeve fits the armhole very easily. No messing around with easing in the extra fabric. I could sew these shirts all day and be a happy person. Could probably finish a mess of them in no time, too. I want to teach this pattern for a class sometime soon; it would be perfect for new students who have never followed a pattern before. It’s not difficult to sew, and it scores high on the accomplishment/satisfaction scale. Perfect.

Up next: the sailor-style skirt and pant that go with this top.

I was thinking this weekend about one more benefit of sewing. Because you can choose fabrics, patterns, and colors of your own liking, you can also build a cohesive wardrobe that all works together in many interchangeable ways.

How may outfits do you think you could you put together from this collection of garments:

• 4 skirts
• 1 jacket
• 2 blouses
• 1 dress
• 2 cardigans
• 1 pants

Here’s what we did.

We could have kept going, but you get the picture(s)….

S. and I have found that this concept works really well. She’s gotten loads of wear from her tweed pants and skirt and jacket, the cardigans, and her 2+2 blouses and skirts. Some of the items above are from her own closet, and we added a few samples from the studio to demonstrate that with a sophisticated color palette and a few key fabrics, you can have a lot of fun with a little girl’s wardrobe.