Seaside (Oliver + S Tea Party Dress and Playsuit)

We were invited to join some dear friends for a week at the Outer Banks this July. I wanted to do something special for the four kiddos, and I fell in love with the Seaside line by October Afternoon for Riley Blake.

I made three Oliver + S Tea Party Sundresses (two in size five, one in size two) and one Playsuit (size two). Size five is the biggest size in the pattern, and it left room to grow for the four-year-old girls.

I used "Play Cream" for the main fabric, with "Blue Bikini" on the dress bodices and flat piping, and "Red Trunks" for the playsuit bodice. I used the plaid on the hem facing for the dresses, too. I ordered all the fabric from SewMamaSew because that is where I saw it first. I used packaged round piping for the bodice seams. The bodice lining is Kona Cotton in bone.

I rounded the button plackets rather than making them pointed as the pattern has them. Just seemed to fit the cloud and sailboat fabric better.

I serged most seam allowances in the dresses, but turned and stitched the side seams.

I ironed the logo that I designed for the family coozies onto the bodice linings to make them a sort of souvenir.

The buttons are all from Jo-Ann.

We went to Jockey's Ridge in Nags Head for a photo shoot. The kids weren't especially cooperative, but it is a really beautiful spot.

As with every oliver + s pattern I have sewn, it was a pleasure. And assembly-line style, they weren't too, too time consuming to cut and onstruct. Fantastic lines and details as always in her patterns. Plus the PDF made it easy to just print two copies and cut both sizes. No tracing!

What a great vacation! Even better memories.