Back to school Cambie

After a significant time away, I'm back to work on Monday.  Clearly, I need a back-to-school dress! Having just made a party dress using the gathered-skirt style, I whipped up the A-line version of the Cambie for work.  I love the tailored fit of this version and the slant pockets.  Man, this pattern is versatile!

The fabric is a peacock-blue double-wool with lycra (Britex, bought in the remnants department), perhaps a bit thick for this dress, but really lovely to sew and wear.  Because of the weight of the fabric, I went with a simple pleat on the "sleeve" instead of gathering the fabric.  And I love the result--seems a bit vintage-y and definitely suits the style of the dress.

I made a slight sway-back adjustment, which is an easy alteration with this particular pattern since there is are center back and waist seams.

Since the "sleeves" aren't too bulky, I can definitely wear a cardigan over this dress when it gets a little chilly; along with pockets, being"cardigan-able" is a super important feature of any me-made article of clothing.

For the inside, I used a super pale green bemberg lining and the sweetest navy and white polka dot stretch silk (Britex, also from the remnants department).   If only everyone could see the inside band of this dress!

  

I'm not going to lie, I struggled with the lining hem.  Ugh.  But I used lace hem tape for the wool, something I've never used before (really!), and, folks, I hand sewed the hem.  That is almost unheard-of for me, but I splurged and bought some silk thread and that made it feel a bit like less of a chore.

A new school year, and a new dress.  Guess that's worth smiling about!

P.S.  Last year at this time, I made another back-to-school dress (with Britex fabric), here.  

First (but not the last) Cambie

Of all the patterns by Tasia at Sewaholic, I've been most drawn to the Cambie.  I'm fairly pear-shaped and the style of the dress is pretty good for my figure.  The 20% off discount through Sew Mama Sew and the SOSM convinced me to finally plunk down the money for the pattern!  Seriously, I don't know why I waited so long.

Pockets!

As a contestant in the SOSM, I had a feeling the Cambie would be the final challenge, and the three finalists did fabulous interpretations of the pattern.  As much as I wished I had been able to compete in those later challenges, it was nice being able to make something for the love of sewing, without worrying so much about changing up the pattern or coming up with something new, novel and extra-special.   It's also a bit of a relief knowing I don't have to expertly finish each and every seam :)

Full back coverage--love!

This dress wasn't my original plan for this pattern--I actually unpinned the Cambie pattern pieces from a different fabric (a silk/cotton plaid suiting that I still intend to use!) to make this version first.  This Anna Sui silk/cotton voile from Mood was purchased to be a top of some kind, but the print was larger than I'd expected, so I immediately switched gears to sew it up as a dress.   

Incredibly, I managed to eek out the shell of this full-skirted dress out of only 2 yards of 44" wide fabric!   To do this, I reduce the the back panels of the skirt to be same width (+ seam allowance) as half of the front panel.  I'm not sure why the back panels are drafted to be quite so full, but I think my version is plenty full enough!  For sizing, I cut size 2 for bust and hips and graded up to size 4 for the waist.  I also did a petite adjustment on the bodice (and think I could use a tiny bit more) and the shoulder seam.  

The hot pink silk taffeta waistband totally makes this dress, in my opinion.  I only wish the pink in the design was a little more apparent!

Back waistband and invisible zipper

I don't love full skirts ordinarily but chose that version of this dress because the fabric was so lightweight, and thus more suitable for gathering.  But I didn't want even more bulk in that particular area, so the dress lining is actually the A-line version of the pattern (in 100% silk, crepe-ish type fabric). I called my mom to get a second opinion of the idea before cutting my silk, but it worked really well! The two fabrics don't cling together, so the overskirt flows over the narrower lining.

The seams were serger-finished, with a blind-stitched hem for the outer skirt and a regular straight stitch for the lining.  

I am completely in love with this pattern.  The style is just right, the full-coverage back is good for me and I adore the way Tasia sews the lining sewn into the dress (so clean and perfect!).  Literally, my biggest beef is something I could fix easily myself (and should have for this dress) and that's simply that I'd like the pockets to extend up to be sewn into the waistband.  Other than that, I can see using this pattern for work dresses or even more fancy frocks than this one (all-over lace anyone?).

This one will likely get worn with a great pair of brown patent and suede d'Orsay heels to one of two weddings we have in October.  (By the way, would it be completely gauche to wear it to both?  The weddings are on opposite coasts and there will be no overlapping attendees, except for the omnipresent Facebook...)   In any case, the dress fabric came in at under $60, and considering it's mostly silk, that's a darn reasonable party dress!