[Nicole]

I do this every time I make an O+S pattern. I declare that it is my favorite, the best garment I have made, the absolute cutest thing I have sewn…..and here I go again!

The Play Date dress is so retro, pretty but seriously funky with the right fabric. It makes a gorgeous dress but also looks fabulous over leggings and tights with boots AND as my twins wear theirs , over skinny jeans.

I am making a sugary sweet version for my baby at present in the C W , Corner Florist pink, but Small One 6 1/2 has requested a blue one in the same fabric and we will make that a little more sophisticated.

It is a great pattern , do consider hunting for it , soon it will be gone!

[Sarvi]

This is going to sound so weird but I actually dreamt about this pattern last night. I’d seen the photo of the one you posted, and after the baby woke up for a night feed I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I was lying there trying to think of different things I could make with some fabric that just arrived, and I guess it all blended together once I dozed off.

[Nicole]

No not weird at all Sarvi!

I had a dream a few nights back that I held a garden party ( at the home of a family I nannied for in my teens , amazing home ) for all my O+S friends! Liesl came by helicopter with a child that she said was here daughter ( but was not her daughter ) to protect her identity! Liesl then borrowed my crusty old mannequin ( Marie-Antoinette) as she was branching into women’s wear!

Now that is weird! ( and , yes , you were there )

[Justine J]

Phew!!!! All my dreams have been about fabric and sewing lately!!! Glad to know I’m not the only one!! (although mine are not as elaborate as yours Nicole!)

[lattemama]

Those dreams sound spectacular! What had you been eating/drinking before bed Nicole? 😉

I really want to try this pattern. All the dresses I’ve seen on Flickr look so lovely, but I’m scared away by the yoke thingy. Is it really as hard as I imagine?

[badskirt]

My absolute favourite dress that I ever made was the Playdate. It might be number one for me in terms of Oliver+S patterns and it’s the most popular pattern I sell at markets.

I think the samples I take help with that. There’s always a bit of a surprise when they see the samples and then look at the pattern cover. The cover picture doesn’t let on about how awesome of a pattern it is.

I’m weird though. I love the discontinued patterns most of all… Playdate and PuppetShow are tops in my book.

[Nicole]

No Lotta, the yoke is not hard , the trick is that you completely make it separately. Then you attach it to the body of the dress!

It is a lovely play dress as it allows for lots of movement. I sew a greater seam allowance at the neck of the yoke, just to make sure it goes over their head.

[Sarvi]

I’m excited I got to come to the party with the cool kids in your dream, Nicole! Thanks for mentioning that about the yoke/bib part, I was wondering about that as well.

[lattemama]

Well, I just started this – wish me luck on the yoke.

I didn’t have enough fabric so it’s a mix and match thing. *nervous*

[Nicole]

Lotta , make sure you try the yoke over her head before you sew up the back opening. It would still be quite easy at that stage to go back and stitch the neckline with a deeper seam allowance.

Good luck xn

[lattemama]

Not sure why I haven’t tried this pattern before, it’s awesome. I still haven’t finished the dress, but once the yoke is done it’s really not that big of a deal.

And I absolutely loved the construction of the yoke. So amazing to see it come together.

Thanks for the advice Nicole about trying the yoke on first. It fit perfectly. Now to pick out buttons …

[LauraB]

I sewed this in a cheap as chips interlock from Spotlight (for non-Aussies: grimmest fabric store in the world) and cut up one of my daughters old t-shirts for the yoke. Some inspired buttons from http://www.allbuttons.com.au/ brought it all together.

I wanted to practice sewing in knit, so this was a low investment piece, but it came out beautifully (apart from major shrinkage in the length because I didn’t prewash – totally my fault). Way better than my expectations. The knit is super comfy for my daughter. I’d recommended giving it a go in knit – I’m sure it would look fantastic in a City Weekend combination.

[JohannaO]

Laura, what kind of stitch did you use to attach the yoke to the main body? What about on the ends of the arms? This has really piqued my curiosity, and I can think of great things to try in knit with this one. I’ve always used a zig-zag on knits, and it seems incompatible with the top stitching to attach the yoke to the main body. (But I’d love to hear that it isn’t!)

[LauraB]

Hi Johanna

I did all the seaming with a little zigzag. I did the top stitching round the back neck opening in a zigzag too, but it looked pretty rubbish, so I did the rest with a normal straight stitch and it came out fine – by the time you are stitching 5 layers of knit together, it is quite firm and not stretching out too much. I seamed the underarms with zig zag and then used a straight stitch to hem the end. The sleeve is quite loose on my daughter, so didn’t need to stretch that much.

Perhaps my bargain basement interlock and well-washed t-shirt were just really well-behaved? Or beginners luck? Would love to know how you get on if you try it!

[JohannaO]

I got it done in a single knit jersey (I’m trying to find ways to use up this nasty stuff. I didn’t know about the other more stable double knit interlock before buying almost 12 yards of the single knit in various colors and patterns.) It passed muster with my husband, but I’m still not sure if I’ll use it as a dress or as a nightgown. I took a couple of short cuts, and stumbled on a happy accident.

I was trying to fuse some non-stretch interfacing to the top of the dress where it meets the yoke, and grabbed my wonder-under instead. And I thought- Wonder Under=tape to hold the yoke in place until I can stitch it. It was wonderful, and I didn’t have to pin the yoke in 18 quadrillion places to make everything line up. I cut the wonder-under into 1″x1/4″ pieces, placed them around the top with some fabric between the pieces, and the ironed the yoke into place.