I have long been a fan of Sewaholic, but this is my first actual pattern purchase. I took advantage of a sale that Tasia was having to launch the pdf version of the Cambie.
This dress is a best-seller for a reason. It is cleverly designed and the gathered sleeves are the key. They allow the order of construction to be changed so you can attach the lining to the zip by machine. This has given me the best zip-to-lining attachment I have ever had. Then the gathered sleeves come to the rescue for the final step and allow a huge amount of adjustment to take place when fitting over the shoulders. You have a fully constructed and finished dress, even the fastening is done, and you can carry on fitting. I took full advantage of this and continually adjusted right to the very end.
I have never, ever had such a well-fitting back to a dress. I pulled the straps very tight to take up all the slack in the back bodice. Even though I had done a 1.5cm sway back adjustment, there was still more to pull up. I had raised the front of the bodice quite high, and straightened it, even so, this is how much length I took out of the bottom of the sleeves.
I cut a size 8 and made a few adjustments to suit my apple shape:
-took the side seam allowances down to 1cm at the waistband
-reduced the dart width by 1cm each dart
-increased the waistband size to 10
-reduced the hip of the skirt where the pockets meet to skim closer to my hips
I also changed the sweetheart neckline to a straight neckline, and raised it by about 1cm. I think a square neck suits me better and I prefer to show a bit less skin. I can see from the photos that the bodice is sitting a bit too high, nevertheless, this is a height that I feel comfortable with, so I'll stick with it for now. Next time I would add some lightweight interfacing to stabilise the pocket openings and the neckline, mine are gaping slightly.
The fabric is quilting cotton: Aviary 2, sparrows by Joel Dewberry. I have Roisin to thank for making me brave enough to make a whole dress out of loud quilting cotton. This is my imaginary entry for the Sew Dolly Clackett competition/wedding gift. Only about 3 months late. It is light and drapey for quilting cotton and I think it makes a great dress. Plus, quilting cotton is about the easiest fabric in the whole world to sew with. I bought it online from the USA at Southern Fabrics. I loved it so much that, after my 1.5 yards arrived, I knew it needed to be a dress so I ordered an extra yard to make the total up to 2.5 yards, in 2 pieces.
I thought hard about the pattern placement. I wanted to use sections that had more orange blossoms, I got the bird in the middle of the front bodice, I had to have one on my left shoulder, and I managed to get all the birds featured down the skirt without any of them pecking me in awkward places or being sliced in half by a seam. I even totally accidentally made awesome pattern matches across the back of the bodice!
The lining is from my reclaimed sheet which is proving to be perfect for any project. I only lined the bodice. I didn't bother with the skirt since this is only suitable for summer wearing and is not clingy. I made the waistband from the fashion fabric. I catch stitched down the lining by hand rather than stitching in the ditch. I actually unpicked all the catch stitching in the front because it wasn't sitting flat and it was making the skirt pull up. So it is open. I pinked most of my seam allowances as I went along so hopefully it will be durable enough.
The dress took me quite a while to make. I started printing and assembling the pattern a week ago. But now that I know the pattern better, and the adjustments I need to make, I am sure that I will be quicker with the next few. And there will be more. I am going to try View B, with the sweetheart neckline in a soft chambray as a casual summer dress, and I'll definitely make this version in a suiting fabric, maybe with a pegged skirt as a work dress.
Costs
Fabric: Southern Fabrics £21.59
Zip: Mood £0.60
Pattern: Sewaholic £6.70
Total: £28.89
PS: I am lying about the location, these are not taken on Cambie Street, Vancouver. One day...
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