Oliver & S Spring Patterns: The Pinwheel Tunic & Dress

Last week you got to see my reversible version of the new Oliver & S Roller Skate pattern.  This week the "Rolling Tour" is back with the last new spring pattern from Liesl and her team, the Pinwheel Tunic and Slip Dress.

Like the Roller Skate, this pattern has several options that can be used to achieve lots of looks. But in my opinion, this one is more of the "special occasion" pattern because of the great flounce factor. It's completely different from anything out there today- a dress that is actually made of layers, a tunic worn over a slip dress. I wanted to make both pieces to be worn together, but also get two different garments that she could wear apart and look different from each other. So I went with a selection of four solid cottons from Sewn Studio. They are Moda Bella in green, caribbean, lilac, and aubergine. 

I LOVE the way the layered flounces look on Elsie in these colors. This will definitely be the perfect Easter Sunday dress this year. I made her the 18-24 month size. I've been starting to use size 2 on the O&S patterns so they last longer, but I knew this one would look off if it was too roomy on her. I'm glad I did that because the fit is perfect. 

Here is the purple slip dress without the tunic. This will be really sweet in summer with some sandals and a new bucket hat. I love the way the dress is constructed, with the straps sewn in between the main dress and the facings. I'd love to use the top of the pattern again and remix it with some different skirt styles.

This post required photo shoots over the course of 2 days because there was no way my 22 month old was going to hang in there for all 3 looks at once. She is becoming SO hard to photograph. For the tunic portion, we had just returned from the doctor (to get staples out of her head, crazy girl. Don't worry, she's fine) and she was about to nap. Thus the pacifier and blankie- we do what we gotta do. 

I'm a huge fan of the tunic part worn with leggings. I think the simple short sleeves on top look so sweet and I love that it still fits over her head with just a tie in the back. We will get a lot of wear out of this. Come to think of it, I just knocked out St. Patrick's and Easter sewing for her!

And of course, the twirl factor is still there with the single flounce. She seems to be a big fan of the Pinwheel too! There is a lot of bias sewing on this dress, but it was great practice. I actually feel like my stitch in the ditch skills have never looked better. But I did use pre-made Moda single fold bias tape from Sewn Studio, which was a giant time-saver.  You buy it off the roll by the yard and since it's Moda it's infinitely softer and better to work with than the packaged pre-made stuff. I love having easy access to it at work and I use it whenever possible. But this pattern would be great with some homemade print bias tape, and Liesl has posted lots of bias help on the Oliver & S blog.


The pattern should be released any day now! It's been really fun to work on both of these great new styles, and as usual they did not disappoint my high expectations of Oliver & S. If you missed it, check out Kristin's adorable sleeveless tunic from yesterday, and look out for Cherie's sweet Pinwheel dress tomorrow.