Every little (or not so little) girl needs a unique special-occasion dress.
I’m not talking about the dress-up-party-make-it-with-six-pink-ruffles-and-sparkly kind of dress. I’m talking about the you-need-to-look-nice-but-not-like-you’re-trying-to-look-too-nice kind of dress. You know the dress I mean. It’s the one you wear for the school performance. The one you wear to grandma’s house for Easter Sunday dinner. The one you wear to this summer’s family reunion.
With a dress like this, the specialness needs to be in the little, and subtle, details. Short, sweet, slightly puffed sleeves with soft gathers at the cap create a unique silhouette that no one else will be wearing. Pintucks add a refined flair to a top or a bodice without making it seem overly fussy.
A button closure up the back provides an opportunity for you to add interesting visual details by choosing unique buttons.
Our signature hem facing, when completed in a contrast fabric, provides for a little surprise pop of color at the inside of the dress. And the rows of optional topstitching near the hem give the hem a little extra body while adding a fun detail to echo the pintucks.
The Family Reunion Dress is one of those dress patterns that can take on a wide variety of personalities depending on the fabric and embellishments you choose for the children you’re sewing for. The silhouette is clean and simple yet traditional and classic. For example, let’s say you make the dress in a solid-colored linen. Without any additional embellishment it can look minimalist and contemporary, relying exclusively on the structural elements of the pattern itself. But if you add a little contrast topstitching, some lace, or a little embroidery it will start to look like a classic heirloom that’s been handed down for generations. You’ll achieve an even wider variety of looks once you start thinking about prints and patterns. A small floral will look sweet and delicate.
A bold geometric print would give it a a more playful or casual feel.
The facing at the neck includes a unique construction method that we also used on the Class Picnic shorts. I don’t want to give away any surprises, but I’m almost certain that once you see how this is done you’ll use this technique over and over again in other sewing projects that involve outside facings. It’s really fun, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it done this way before.
Choices, choices: you can make this pattern as a dress or a blouse, and you also have two options for embellishing the front, just below the neck band. The first is a simple little tab that highlights four tiny buttons of your choosing.
The second is a sweet little ruffle.
I imagine that you’ll think of additional ways to embellish this dress, too. I just finished making S a dress and added a little ribbon frill that I’ll show you soon. I can’t wait to see what you do with it.
I am so looking forward to getting my hands on this pattern. Fabric already planned and prepped!
This is beyond cute and adorable! (and yet so practical).
By far my favorite pattern for this season!! I’ll be stocking on both size ranges for sure, Lol
Ohhh! Once more you have created a beautiful, beautiful piece of clothes. That dress will be a great success. :))
I am SO excited about this pattern! I can hardly wait.
I absolutely love the simplicity of that. The little button tab is precious. When will that pattern be available? I want to make those for my girls for Easter.
This is my absolute favourite out of the new pattern!
That’s it. I need this pattern too!:)
My favorite one in years, gorgeous as usual. Can’t wait!
I LOVE it!!! Definitely my favorite for this season and quite possibly my favorite O+S pattern ever. I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
Oh, this is lovely. It would really help me with my stash-busting project. I have just the fabric in mind for it…
I’m really excited for this pattern! So sweet!
so lovely. wishing i had my hands on that pattern already! 🙂
This looks like an excellent pattern. I always love the classics.
That’s also the dress you wear when you go out to eat at a nice place and you need to look cute so people will say ‘oh how cute is she” instead of “I can’t believe they brought a 3 year old here.” Can’t wait pick the pattern up at my local shop.
Agreed – my favorite, and I’m sure it will be my daughter’s, too. Patterns are coming out early April, right? Can you let us know the yardage early?
Yes, patterns will be available on our website next week. And yardage information is already posted in the Oliver + S Discussion Forums.
Which of those dresses will S be wearing to the family reunion this summer?
I’m most excited about this new pattern! Can’t wait!
So pretty and perfect! Will definitely be ordered in both size ranges. 🙂
It might be nice done in a lovely Liberty!
That first one is PRECIOUS!!! I kinda want it in my size!!!
I can’t wait for the pattern. It’s a wonderful dress!!
I love this dress! I want to make it for my granddaughter. Where can I get the pattern? Please let me know soon. I want to make it for Easter.
Love this dress! I want the pattern to make for my granddaughter for Easter.
I am going to sew the whole collection of dresses and skirts/tops for my granddaughter to wear to kindergarten. Well, at least a few of them. For sure this dress will be one of them. I think I’ll make it with long sleeves in a baby corduroy.
I can’t wait to get started on this one!
What a gorgeous dress! I will be sewing some of these this spring.
I love this dress! I am trying to make two for Easter out of dotted swiss. I need to line it, but I would like the lining to hang free of the dotted swiss is there a tutorial somewhere for this?
Hi i am making this dress and its fab i have one problem though i have cut the hem facings the pattern tells you to open out the back plackets and stitch the facing to the side but my facings dont reach that far can anyone help ?? is there a tutorial anywhere i can view of attaching hem facing x elaine
I have loved using the layering feature on the classic shirt pattern, but I couldn’t find that feature on the family reunion dress digital pattern. This made it quite frustrating to print out only the size 5. Did I miss something in the instructions? If the layering feature isn’t available, perhaps you could list the page numbers needed to print each size. It would be wasteful to print all 63 pages just to get the size you need.
Thanks!
Lynn