Rainy Day Tea Party

Last weekend, Zachary was supposed to have a soccer tournament so we had nothing else planned to do for the weekend. Lucky us, the tournament was rained out. That gave me an entire day with no plans, I took advantage of this time on my hands and put together a dress that has been on my mind for a while.  What do you think of my rainy day Tea Party dress?

Oliver + S Tea Party Dress

I think this was the dress that made me fall in love with Oliver + S patterns.  I love the unique shape and the little details that make this dress what it is.  Like the curve of the bodice where it meets the skirt:

I tried to add in some flat piping for a pop of color but I can never judge it correctly when cutting, folding and or pinning it to the garment.  It never fails to be either too wide or too narrow.  Maybe someday I'll get it just right.

The bottom of the skirt is finished with this genius little hem band, making the curved skirt easier to hem.

I did get a little lazy when finishing the hem band.  Per the directions, the hem band should be finished with a hand done blind hem.  We all know my feelings on hand stitching.  I avoid it at all costs.  Yes, so maybe I gave up some of the clean look of the dress but I didn't have to hand stitch by throwing it on the machine to finish.

I love to see how people mix and match fabric patterns and colors.  I wish I had more confidence to do it myself.  I generally stick to fabrics from the same line when mixing and matching.  That's the case here.  This is one of my favorite fabric lines, Riley Blake Dress Up Days.  The skirt is done in floral and damask prints.  Piper's favorite color is purple so, I'm pretty sure she loves it too.  What do you think?