A Pocket for a Picnic

How many times have you purchased fabric and looked at it the next day, and wondered, "what exactly were you thinking when you purchased THAT?"

Well, all I can figure is we thought it was "autumny," and the word "gingerbread" crossed our lips a few times too.

In predicaments such as these, we find ourselves wanting to use our resources. And since we paid good money for the fabric, we might as well put it to good use - all while not investing much time or effort into our project. Fair enough? 

We had several ideas floating around, but culled them due to amount of time it would take. I guess it's what business leaders call ROI (return on investment), but ours would be ROT (return on time). 

So, we started with something easy that we love. Enter the 18 - 24 month Oliver + S, picnic blouse {and modified it a bit}. . .which to us is about as perfect for fall as you can get! We still haven't made the shorts (affectionately called "gym shorts" by us), but giggle and envision Richard Simmons every time we see them.

Although we felt as if the picnic blouse were a perfect fall outfit, we had LOTS of fabric. MUCH more than is needed to make a picnic blouse.

We had enough fabric to lengthen it 6" (and get an additional inch of hem) to make a dress, as well as make CL some Britches and Bloomers pants, and we still have some left over. Hindsight told us we should have lengthened the sleeves in this size for EA. They seemed a bit on the skimpy side for 3/4 length sleeves.

 

What exactly were we thinking? I'm not sure.

We wanted to do some sort of non time-consuming detail or accent though. So, we came up with a piped, round pocket, folded over with a button accent. We found a tutorial here and whipped out the pocket in no time. We'd like to think we were successful with our ROT.

The pocket with the piping and double button detail seemed to give the outfit a little bit of 'pop.' Not to mention, it may very well keep EA distracted from other things and give her a "gold star" for the day! This little addition will definitely be incorporated on future outfits for the girls...

While we already loved the Oliver + S picnic blouse, we now adore it as a dress too! It's great for fall without leggings, with leggings, or with tights. The possibilities are endless! We have no doubt there will be many more of these in EA's future. And hopefully, next time it will be done in combination with the perfect fabric!

Is the fabric you purchase perfect every time or do you ever experience buyer's remorse too? To use, or not to use, that is the question.

And this time we are glad we used.

Kudos to our "guest photographer" {aka: the niece's momma} for stepping up and taking the blog photos! Excellent work, sis! WATCH OUT: This could become habit-forming!

Until next time...