The First Day of School (Marathon-Sewn) Dress

So this happened.

Documenting an Oliver + S Library Dress sewn for the First Day of School (Kindergarten!) in one marathon session 12 hours before the school bus arrived. | The Inspired Wren

Kindergarten. First Day. And I was okay. Really, not a tear. I had spent all of my nervous energy the night before in a frenzy of sewing a dress from start to completion. If you follow me on Instagram this is old news, but here's how it went down.

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'Twas the night before Kindergarten,* and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for this mom who could. not. sleep. I actually started sewing well before my usual bedtime, but there was no settling me down to even sit still at that point. So I turned to the dress I had cut but not had time to sew. I figured I'd sew until I collapsed and I'd be okay. We have a lovely Oliver + S Family Reunion Dress in yellow with blue flowers (seen here on Day 8) and it was ironed, awaiting the first day of school. Instead I finished this dress. And I documented it on Instagram (recreated here for your viewing pleasure).

*We love this series of books by Natasha Wing (almost as much as we love the Clement C. Moore original), and this one [affiliate link] was in heavy rotation throughout August, natch.

Back to School Dress. It's now 8:19 pm. The school bus arrives at 8:40-ish am tomorrow. On your mark. Get set. Sew!
 Documenting an Oliver + S Library Dress sewn for the First Day of School (Kindergarten!) in one marathon session 12 hours before the school bus arrived. | The Inspired Wren
9:38 pm. Collar on. Facings prepped. Beginning the pleats. Documenting an Oliver + S Library Dress sewn for the First Day of School (Kindergarten!) in one marathon session 12 hours before the school bus arrived. | The Inspired Wren
11:00 pm. Back is done. Realized I failed to close the back end of the collar and had to cheat it by top-stitching it closed and fray checking it at the seam. Moving on to the front. Documenting an Oliver + S Library Dress sewn for the First Day of School (Kindergarten!) in one marathon session 12 hours before the school bus arrived. | The Inspired Wren
12:34 am. Needs a hand-stitched hem. And apparently a million buttons (and holes) down the back. Ugh. Documenting an Oliver + S Library Dress sewn for the First Day of School (Kindergarten!) in one marathon session 12 hours before the school bus arrived. | The Inspired Wren
1:55 am. Six buttons and holes are in. I sat down to hand stitch hem and thought, No. Just, no. Threw a twin needle on the machine and I'm callin' it. Documenting an Oliver + S Library Dress sewn for the First Day of School (Kindergarten!) in one marathon session 12 hours before the school bus arrived. | The Inspired Wren

Forgive the harsh light, the cell phone pics, the piles of laundry in the background (at least it's folded); as I took these process photos I was simply trying to document the stages and time elapsed. Photo composition and lighting was far from my mind while I distracted myself from parental Kindergarten stress with sewing.

I went to bed at 2:00 am and promptly fell asleep. (Apparently burnt out, I haven't gotten anything sewn since!)

Mr. Wren and I got The Peanut on the bus the next morning and then followed her to school where I was able to watch her happily bounce off the bus and into school oblivious to me standing there taking pics. It was perfect. 

The next morning she woke up and asked what we were doing that day. "But I went to Kindergarten yesterday," came the logic from the child who may be at a new school, but is entering her fourth year of public school. 

At least we both love the dress.

Documenting an Oliver + S Library Dress sewn for the First Day of School (Kindergarten!) in one marathon session 12 hours before the school bus arrived. | The Inspired Wren
First Day of Kindergarten: September 2, 2014

Pattern

Library Dress by Oliver + S, size 5 (with 6 buttons instead of 9, because that's what I had on hand) 
Read about the backpack here.

Fabric

Kaugman Essex Yarn Dayed Linen Blend in Denim Blue from Fabric.com 
The stripes are from Walmart (and once again, I failed to make a note from the bolt) and the coral is from my large-scraps stash.

Love

The pattern is impeccable as ever (of course, from Oliver + S), I used the coral on the front lining, the stripes on the back lining (under the button placket) and also on the underside of the collar; the static pictures don't do the dress justice because I love those peeks of color and pattern and she moves about.

Notes

I went out of my way to get a chambray making this the third (of four) back-to-school dresses in chambray. I'm gonna' keep that up as long as she'll let me. It has a loose fit so I'm hopeful it will still fit on the last day of school for a nice side by side comparison. We shall see.

Ren Murphy writes for The Inspired Wren.


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You should really see all that goes into each project!
Summer means more playing than sewing, but you can still catch daily updates on Instagram (and Flickr) of works-in-progress. Get that behind the scenes view you’re looking for, and sneak peeks of First Tuesday Tutorials, too.
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