Since the general consensus after Oliver’s sailboat top was that Eliot needed a coordinating one, I decided to use kcw as an excuse to make him one. First off, I needed a palate cleanser (thank you Kristin for inspiring me with that phrase!) after working on Halloween costumes (more on that Saturday) for 3 days straight and secondly, how could I not participate in the storybook theme?! The book lover in me just couldn’t resist.

Stripes and primary colors always remind me of Dr. Seuss- specifically Red Fish, Blue Fish (which is one of Eliot’s favorite books). This outfit may not scream Dr. Seuss to you, but it gives me that same fun vibe I get from his illustrations. I love anything Dr Seuss, and in fact have a small hoard of the Kaufman fabric line of his characters- you can see some of that way back here in Oliver’s toddler backpack. However I didn’t want to just make a shirt out of that fabric because it seemed a little too obvious. I kinda like the subtle nod to Seuss that I give in this top.

The fabric is the same as Oliver’s version just inverse colors (both from Mill End in Portland). I made this sailboat top in the 18-24 month size. Eliot measured into the 12-18 month size but he grows so quickly these days that I made it a size up to give him plenty of room. It’s a wee big- you can see that I rolled up the sleeves but it’s not ridiculously huge. I think it’s the perfect size to carry him through the winter.

I mentioned this in Oliver’s version but I want to say it again. I do think this top runs a bit on the short side so if your child is tall or on the upper end of a size, you may want to add a bit of length to the hem. Other than that, I have no complaints with this top. I’m not normally a facings fan, but I love how they turn out in this version. Typical Oliver+S style- everything is so professional-looking.

Love that I could make this top from pattern tracing to final buttonhole in one nap time. Granted I was pushing it as I was sewing on the buttons as Oliver was coming out of his room, but I made it! And Eliot just looks adorable, if I do say so myself. He’s still got that great toddler chub and I just love to squeeze it!

I also love that so far, both my boys are huge book worms. They would be so happy for me to sit and read them book after book! I’ll leave you with these final two pictures taken after the sun started to go down and we caught just a bit of the “golden light” time. So ethereal looking!