Over at my personal blog today, I have a post up about making Tsia an Oliver + S Tea Party Sundress using Natalie Chanin’s techniques. Here’s the result.

See the details, and some spreads from Natalie’s new book on disdressed.

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.

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 always have a difficult time letting go of Thanksgiving and moving into Christmas. Maybe it’s something about the family-oriented reflection of Thanksgiving versus the consumer pressure that seems to preceed Christmas (can you tell which holiday is my favorite?).

But really, I think it’s more about the colors.

Thanksgiving colors are rich autumnal golds, reds, and burgundies. Christmas is traditionally associated with two colors that I wouldn’t usually pair together: red and green.

Thus, the Harvest Dress.

This Tea Party dress was entirely fabric-inspired. It started with the golden yellow velveteen (velveteen is velvet made from cotton, which means it’s also washable and doesn’t have the sheen usually associated with velvet) which paired itself with a William Morris print fine-wale corduroy from Liberty of London.

I think it could be worn for Christmas as well as Thanksgiving.

A few months ago, I wrote a post about Natalie Chanin’s Alabama Stitch Book on my personal blog. I adore Natalie’s work, her book, and her sustainable approach to clothing and design.

Following my post, I received a very kind email from Natalie, which started a lengthy series of conversations via email and phone. It’s been a pleasure to get to know her, and we’ve started to collaborate on a few ideas which I’ll tell you about when the time is right.

In the meantime, I was thrilled to open this month’s issue of Cookie magazine and discover a feature article about Natalie, her family, and her company. And there was an additional little surprise in the article: a Tea Party sundress, made using Natalie’s own fabric and construction techniques.

You can see another photo of the dress (and her adorable daughter) and read more about it on Natalie’s blog. Thanks, Natalie!

A seersucker Tea Party Playsuit with feedsack piping and lining and vintage buttons, hanging from a vintage-inspired rack. A fun way to display the finished garment at a shop or at home, right?

The Playsuit has gotten short shrift in our line, but it’s included in the pattern for the Tea Party Sundress and is appropriate for boys and girls. Really easy to sew, with optional instructions for snap tape at the inseam (makes for easy diaper changes).

We’ll be showing the Playsuit at Quilt Market next week made up in a really soft, luxurious Italian wool suiting for fall with a Liberty print piping in the waist seam. Can’t wait to show you the photos when we return from the show!

This awesome twosome was sewn by Aimee (of Betsy Ross Patterns fame) for the new Spool shop in Philadelphia, and I love everything about them.

Aimee clearly understands the Oliver + S “look.” Her choice of colors (neutrals with a shot of brilliant orange), prints (sophisticated and bold but not overpowering), and buttons (cute but not “cutesy”) are perfect. And I love her use of the Michael Miller Organics line.

The end result is a clean, fresh simplicity that’s perfect for spring and summer.

You can read more about Aimee’s choices on the Spool blog. Personally, I’m looking at orange with a fresh eye again.

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!