Megan Nielsen Olive Dress and Tops

 When a new pattern comes out, you buy it almost immediately and then make three versions within about a month of owning it, it's a fairly good sign that it's a winner, don't you think? That's what happened for me with the Megan Nielsen Olive dress/top (also available in sizes 14-30 here).

The Olive is a relaxed fit top or dress with a V-insert at the neckline. It has a drop shoulder, various sleeve finishes (bias bound (which I used for all three of my versions) or banded short sleeves, or longer sleeves), dress or top variations (with two top lengths) and an optional breast patch pocket. The dress has a gathered skirt and in-seam pockets.

I've been hankering after a looser fitting dress this summer so that was what initially attracted me to the pattern, but the first version I made was actually the shorter length top. That was mainly because already had the perfect fabric for it in the form of this super pretty floral lawn (now out of stock) from Selvedge & Bolts. I knew I wanted to make a feature of the V-insert so for that I used some white cotton lawn that I have in my stash (I tend to keep a small supply of white lawn because it's useful for bodice linings). 

I loved how my top turned out so I pretty much immediately started planning a dress version. The Olive is a great pattern for playing with stripes so I was on the lookout for some nice stripey fabric and thankfully spotted the perfect candidate in the form of this yarn-dyed linen-cotton fabric from Cloth Spot. It's an excellent quality fabric and is a great pairing for this pattern. It's got a bit of body to it, but will still be lovely to wear on hot days. This dress is so easy to wear and comfy. My only slight disappointment is that I hadn't finished it in time to enjoy it in the heatwave we had a couple of weeks ago!

Now we come onto my third version! My mum really liked both my top and dress so asked me to make an Olive for her, and I was happy to oblige. This version is the full length top. The fabric is from Cloth Spot again - although I think this one is now out of stock apart from a remnant (still available at the time of writing!). This one is a viscose and is nice and drapey. It was slightly 'interesting' to sew because my machine didn't completely love the change in texture when sewing over the woven stripes, but as long as I took it slowly it coped with it OK. And mum is happy with the end result so it's all good!

The Olive is a nice pattern to sew. You have to take a bit of care sewing the V-insert, but you do that first and once that's done it's pretty simple and fairly speedy to sew. 

The instructions are really detailed and easy to follow. They also give you two options for sewing the V-insert - one where the edges end up fully enclosed, and one that is simpler but leaves the edges of the V exposed on the inside. I used the first, apparently slightly trickier option for all of my Olives and it does give a really nice finish. It's not too difficult as long as you're willing to be quite precise. There's also a sewalong for the Olive on the Megan Nielsen blog if you're struggling with anything.

As the Olive has a relaxed silhouette, fitting isn't too complicated. For both of my versions I blended from a 12 at the bust to a 14 at the hips (my measurements are 38-32-42) and added an inch to the length of the top/bodice. For my dress, I also lengthened the skirt by 2" (I'm about 5'9"). My mum's top blends from a 12 at the bust to a 16 at the hips and is the length from the pattern (she's about 5'6").

I love how all three of these Olives turned out. It's a really satisfying pattern to sew and the finished top/dress are lovely to wear. I'm not sure I'll use the long-sleeved version, but I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for pretty fabric for another top or dress version next summer!