The Super Online Sewing Match: Round Two Challenge

Round Two's Challenge is the Roller Skate Dress  and Tunic from Oliver & S.  This pattern is for girls and the size range is 6 months to size 12.  Check out the post at Sew Mama Sew and get all the information about this darling dress and a discount code, too!  Let me start by saying how wonderful this pattern is.  The instructions are well-written and the hints throughout are so helpful with construction.  I enjoyed making this dress so much and I am so pleased with the results.  The fit, the look and the style all work together to give Lily one really cute dress.

When we received the information for the challenge I knew exactly who I was going to make a dress for, Lily, a good friend's daughter.  Lily is beautiful, talented, sweet and a great runner.  She loves animals, her family and athletic clothes with an occasional dress.

My inspiration was from the fabric (Camelot Cottons Hand Picked)  and Lily's personality.  I wanted a cute dress but not too girly and it needed pockets.

I used the dress version but redrafted the pattern so I could use one fabric for the bodice and another for the skirt.  Lily wanted orange in her dress and that is one of the colors in the stripes.  I used the elastic casing lines from the pattern for the division from bodice and skirt, adding 3/4" to these pattern pieces for the casing

The main challenge for this dress was matching the stripes on the side seams and the pockets.  I made sure to lay my fabric out straight for cutting  the skirt front and back, matching the notch provided on the pattern.  I also used this notch as placement for the pockets, matching those stripes also.

View of the side seam and pockets.

Kay Whitt of Sew Serendipity inspired me with her use of ruffles, pleats, bands at the hem and other embellishments.  I decided to use my ruffler for my sewing machine and pleat the green fabric for the hemline of Lily's dress.  I chose the pleats over gathering because I felt it was an older look for Lily's age.

I added length to the lining of the dress so the seam of the pleat to the dress would be covered, I used a hot pink quilting cotton for the lining.

Now to the neckline, I wanted to use the yoke which would allow me to add another fabric to the dress.  I  decided a piping would look nice on the yoke plus add some contrast between the green and yoke print. Lily picked hot pink.

Seam finishing was to press open and pink the seam.  I didn't want the serging to show through when the seam was pressed.  I did this to the lining and the outside fabric.

Now let's talk about how cute Lily looks in her dress. 

She can climb a tree

Jump for joy!

Make a wish in the wishing well.

Stand on a rock

And of course, just like the name of the dress, Lily can do some roller skating.

This is the end of the story, Lily says good-bye and is off to enjoy her new dress and her roller skates.

Note - these pictures were taken in a local garden our small town is so lucky to have.  Also, we were very lucky to get a rain in our farming community, Lily was a trooper during the photoshoot.  She carried the umbrella, stepped over puddles and later skated through them!  Thank you Lily for helping me with this challenge.