Its no big secret that I'm a huge fan of the Oliver and S sewing patterns. I pretty much stalked O&S on Twitter just waiting for the new fall patterns to be released a few weeks ago because I wanted this pattern. Here's our first go-round with the O&S After School Shirt and Pants:
As always, the instructions are clear, the details divine, and the fit perfect. I chose a baby wale corduroy for the pants, gawd how I love corduroy. Tater picked the fabric for the shirt out of my stash, just a piece of leftover calico.
The little off set button placket is just enough to be different without being weird and it all comes together nicely. That's the thing about O&S patterns... they all come together like a puzzle and by that I mean no matter how many little facings, pockets, and details there may be they all just click together perfectly like the pieces of a puzzle.
I will say that if you tend to not take copying all the little notches and marks on your pattern pieces seriously you may run into some trouble. This little shirt is easy to make but relies heavily on making sure you are using the right piece at the right time. Checking for the single and double notches will keep the yoke and lining pieces all where they need to be. Liesl has taken the time to make sure everything will match up easily so you should take the time to mark everything. If ya get a little lazy and don't take care transferring your markings you just may find yourself flipping lining and yoke pieces around a mazzion times while swearing to yourself. Not that I would do such a thing, ahem.
This is definitely going on the pile of tried and true O&S patterns and will be used again.
The general shape and construction of this pull on shirt has already sparked some ideas for a little customization. I'm picturing the O&S Indian Summer fabric from the new fabric line with perhaps just a wee bit of smocking under that buttoned yoke and maybe just a little ruffle somewhere.
The pants fit just the way I like... not saggy in the rump, not too wide in the leg, and the length is just right. I often have a hard time with pants patterns for Tater as she's got a slight build and so many times the pants are baggy but these are great without needing to adjust the pattern at all. The little patch detail at the lower pants leg is really sweet and Tater just loves it.
Bubba seems to like it too!
Okay, that's a lie. 6 seconds after I took this picture he was yanking on her pants, her hair, and everything else he could reach because he wanted up on the bench. Also, those are Tater's dirty socks under the bench.
Of course he succeeded and was quite pleased with himself.
Which is my flimsy segue for the second part of this post.
I've never been very good at being professional. I try to fake it but really I'm just not that good. Some designers/bloggers/crafters have great studios with lots of space and light and they're all organized and scheduled and whatever. Truth is, I tend to blog by the seat of my pants, which explains the dead silence here so often, and photo shoots that need to take place in the house generally require at least a little furniture moving.
Most of our walls are covered in book shelves and kids art projects so finding a clean backdrop is nearly impossible. My "studio" is a corner of the living room and right now there is a Bubba-proof baby gate panel stretched around the back of it to keep him from playing with all the electrical cords I have tangled up back there (laptop, camera charger, phone, sewing machine, full spectrum light, blah, blah).
We've gotten pretty creative from time to time but most often its the sofa that gets moved away from the wall in the living room and then we drag some other piece of furniture in temporarily. Today it was the bench from the hall that normally has everybody's boots lined up under it. Don't even ask me how much dried mud I found when I moved the bench. As soon as I'm done here I need to go clean the floor.
For some reason moving furniture always gets the kids all wound up. While I was dropping the O&S pictures from the camera to my laptop in my "studio" this is what was going on behind me. As soon as the pictures were off the camera I stealthily turned in my chair, just a little, and manged to capture a little bit of the action...
