I am an affiliate with Craftsy and was asked if I would like to review THIS KIT. I said yes, because, free fabric and an Oliver + S pattern. I’ve always wanted to try one of their patterns. So here was my chance!
I knew that Bailey would love the dog fabric. She is obsessed with all things animals these days. The designer of the fabric is Ann Kelle. I was pleased with her flannel fabric I sewed THESE PAJAMAS into, so was happy to work with her designs again.
I am not a fan of sewing apparel with quilting cotton. I sewed a dress for myself years ago (gosh I was so thin then! And my sewing has improved–yay!) with quilting cotton. I frequently used quilting cotton in my children’s apparel. That dress I believe was the last time I used it, and I swore I would never make clothes with quilting cotton again. Don’t get me wrong, I love the pattern, and I love the fabric, but I do feel that clothing should be sewn with the right fabric to look it’s best. You are, after all, spending hours sewing!
That being said, it worked fine for this pattern, though I did find myself wishing it was knit. My serger is in storage and so I was missing that as I zig-zagged the edges of every seam.
The pattern itself is wonderful. The instructions were so clear and I learned a couple new tricks, which I always appreciate while sewing. The leggings came together so quickly. 
I really love the stitching on the neckline to make it look like a peter pan collar, and the back stitching is beautiful as well. I love those little details that make a pattern even better.
This style of clothing is not Bailey’s ideal. In fact she was throwing a little fit before pictures and asked me why I didn’t ask her permission to make this outfit for her. Ha! She loved the little dogs but she is not a girly girl at all. Once she discovered that the dress had pockets, she decided it was ok and was a good sport during pictures.
She did ask if I would cut off the dress portion so it’s a shirt, and I agree with her. It is an awful lot of the same fabric. I think it would be a good idea to use two fabrics for this dress. The smaller sizes actually look totally ok as a dress, but I feel you really need to break up that much fabric on the older sizing. A shirt will really help it not to look like a big billboard of fabric.
All in all, I do recommend the kit if you don’t mind sewing clothing with quilting cotton. It gives you plenty of fabric. I have enough leftover to use for other projects as well. So they are generous with the fabric and it was fun to sew with my first Oliver + S pattern.
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