Another Cambie! This One is Wool!

I've finished the third in what will become my Cambie Quartet. (The fourth will be the white floral Cambie that I mentioned here.) I was so excited to photograph and post pictures that I haven't even trimmed all the thread of removed all of the cat fur yet!

 

I have a few minor seam puckering issues in the back, but I feel that I can either steam these out or make a few minor tweaks to the back seam to perfect the fit.

I purchased the wool from Vogue Fabrics. (As always, it was in the remnant section.) I don't exactly know what type of wool it is, maybe wool crepe?  I'll be honest, I wouldn't know wool crepe if it bit me on the ass. I hear it's wonderful and I would really like to work with it, but I've never actually sought it out. This fabric has a nice drape, slightly woven texture, but does not fray (or only very, very minor fraying).

I was all set to cut out and make another Burda pencil skirt with this wool.  The pattern calls for 1 yard, but I had 1 3/4 yards and I didn't want the extra fabric to go to waste! So, I decided a more yardage-appropriate pattern should be used to take advantage of this wonderful fabric.  Cambie to the rescue, yet again.

Production notes: Like all of my Cambies, I cut a size 6 for the top and graded to a size 8 at the hips. I also made my standard swayback and shoulder modifications, mentioned here.

I decided on the "less sweet" straight neck version because I wanted this to be a good business/work event dress.  I also wanted to simplify the straps to make it easier to layer under jackets or cardigans.  Instead of the gathered shell pieces, I used the lining pattern piece for both the shell and lining for a straight strap.

The lining was wine-colored mystery satin fabric that I've had in my stash since high school.  It's so beautiful and think there must be some silk in the fabric content.  Almost too pretty to use just as a lining, but I like that extra touch of luxury.

I also scraped together enough lining fabric to make bias tape for Hong Kong seams on the shell. I was really running low after cutting out the pattern pieces. (Not the best picture, but don't you think the cat fur really makes this shot?)

This dress just screams for a touch of color, and I love the lining fabric.  With the few scraps that I have left, I plan to either purchase a belt kit or try to pull enough scraps together to make a cute sash. 

I love that I can style this with so many other pieces. It's a great, simple basic dress to have in my wardrobe.

(Note 5/19/13: I've since returned to Vogue, and am now proud to say that I know what wool crepe is. This isn't it. I managed to find a very similar bolt of fabric called "novelty wool", if I remember the name correctly.) 

Watermelon Cambie in Action

It's been a while since I completed this project, but I haven't had a chance to post "action shots" of my Watermelon Cambie. If you're interested, you can read about the project here.

Ms Macy is not impressed by these action shots. She wants this photo shoot nonsense to be over so she can go eat her cat treats.

While it's technically spring, it's still freakin' cold in Chicago! This particular Cambie feels like more of a spring/summer dress to me. But, I was determine to wear it out on Friday and needed a way to style it to make it more weather appropriate:

I love the color, but it is a bit hard to figure out what other colors work best with this. Black seemed to be the safe and currently only choice, but I'm looking for other ideas.  Fuchia maybe? Go bold or go home, right?

Finished Eyelet Cambie

As promised, here are more pictures of my finished eyelet Cambie:

Check out the pattern matching on the back! I wasn't even trying! I think I just got lucky because I took so much care to keep the fabric on grain when cutting out the pattern pieces.

Action shot.  I tried to style this with my red belt, but I think it's a bit too wide for this dress.  Oh well, this just gives me an excuse to buy/make something that works better.

Construction notes:

I used Sewaholic's Cambie pattern, View B.  The fabric is the fabulous navy eyelet that I purchased from Britex on a recent trip to San Francisco. I used the solid selvage edge of the eyelet for the waist band. The underlining and bodice lining were mystery polyester/synthetic blends purchased from Jo-Ann's

I cut out a size 6 and graded the pattern to a size 8 at the waist.  I also made a swayback adjustment, which is standard for me on most dress patterns, and took in the upper back shoulder about an inch. The pattern looks kind of crazy, but it works for me.

I underlined the eyelet fabric and only added lining to the bodice. I omitted the skirt lining because I worried that the dress was becoming too bulky. I decided that the fabric was opaque enough with the underlining to avoid any wardrobe malfunctions.

A change that I did not make intentionally -  at one point my mind decided to take a vacation and I switched some of my seam allowances from 1.5cm to 2cm.  It wasn't by design, but that's why this Cambie is a bit tighter than my first one and why the waistband is narrower than it should be.

Final thoughts? I love the dress. I still wish I had used a lighter weight fabric with more drape for the underlining to avoid the extra bulk at the waist, but I'll get used to it :)   Knowing me, I'd do it again because it was the exact color fabric that I wanted.

This officially means I can cross another project off of "The List"!

Finished!

Guess who just finished their eyelet Cambie dress? That's right, I did!

Here are my two Cambies hanging out together:

Guess who's also too busy watching the Oscars, checking hockey scores and trying to cut out another Renfrew to actually take proper pictures of the finished dress?

Yep, that would be me also.

I promise to post pictures later this week. Until then, how about another cat picture?

Progress on Eyelet Cambie

I love that point in the sewing process when you see the garment start to come together and actually look like something. That's what happened to me early Sunday afternoon while working on my Cambie.

Prior to that, it was just a bunch of pattern pieces:

(Since Ms Flooz won't move, she might as well help model my fabric.)
 
But Sunday afternoon, a skirt emerged! I could start to see the finish product.

I also have this amazing ability to pick out the most unsuitable fabric combinations for shells and underlinings.  I did this over a year ago when I sewed the Lonsdale dress pattern from Sewaholic. My fabric choices were this wonderful gauzy fabric for the shell, and crazy stretch fabric for underlining.  In the end it worked out beautifully, but it involved many hours and much swearing to get to that point.

My eyelet, while beautiful, was tough to keep on grain.  It didn't help that I decided to go with the satin mystery fabric as the underlining.  I struggled to keep both fabrics lined up enough to baste together.  I think I've managed so far, but it definitely slowed down the project.  If I had been patient and waited until some nice cotton in the perfect color came along, I probably would be finished already.  Oh well, onward and upward...

I was also having a bit of difficulty with my skirt gathers.  I guess I'm just not used to making and wearing something this gathered at the waist.  It almost felt too gathered and I worried I did something wrong.  Contributing to this is the fact that the skirt is getting heavy with both fabrics. I'll admit that I had a few panic moments where I thought that this dress going to be a puffy mess and that I had wasted good fabric.

I draped it on my dress form and pinned the sleeve/straps to their correct position.

Then, Magic:

I LOVE IT.  It has a wonderful vintage vibe.  It's beautiful.  No more worries.  I can't wait to finish.

Next steps - I need to insert the zipper and bodice lining. I think I'm going to omit the skirt lining. The fabric is opaque enough to leave it out and I am still a bit concerned about the extra weight and bulk.

Navy Eyelet Dress - Getting the Party Started!

Chantilly, I just can't quit you.  I was so set in my decision to go with the Cambie pattern for my eyelet.  Unfortunately, I made the mistake of hanging my the Chantilly bodice muslin on my dress form. I've been staring at it for a day now wondering if I made the right decision.

"Pst...You know you want me. I'm so pretty!  Just cut me out!"

No.  I made my decision.  If I don't stick with it, I run the risk of agonizing over the pattern for months. Cambie it is!

Don't worry Chantilly, I have an awesome consolation fabric in mind for you:

 

 

That's right, it's Dr. Who Toile from Spoonflower.com! I'm eying up the cotton voile mainly because it comes in a wider width than the cotton silk (54" width vs. 40" width). And since this fabric is expensive and the pattern does take up a decent amount of yardage, the wider option is more economical. 

This fabric will be perfect. The pattern is subtle enough for daily wear but nerdly enough for events like ComicCon. I'd call this a win win all around.  And, the purchase shall be my reward for finishing a few projects.

Now, on to Cambie!

I started cutting out the shell last night and I have to say that cutting this eyelet was a bitch! I was trying to be very careful to make sure it stayed on grain. This meant lining up the circles every few inches and pining them in place. I also had to decided if I wanted the circles aligned vertically or horizontally. It's subtle, but I know if I didn't keep this consistent it would drive me nuts. (Horizontal alignment won.)

As always, my dedicated helper was there to supervise.

" You might want to consider pattern weights instead of pins"

She is really annoyed in this picture that I have the nerve to try to move her! Check out those ears.

I need to cut underlining and lining next, but I anticipate that these will go much faster as long as I don't get any more feline help.

Pattern Dilemma

Have you ever have this problem?  You have some amazing fabric that you're saving for the perfect pattern. Then one day that perfect pattern finally comes along.  You debate long and hard over whether or not it really is perfect before finally deciding that it is in fact "the one" and you can't live without it.

Then, just before you're about to start cutting, you get cold feet and wonder if you've made the right decision.  Is it really "the one"?

This is the dilemma I'm having right now.  I want to start working on my blue eyelet dress.  I've decided that the perfect lining was flesh colored mystery fabric that I found at Joann's this weekend. It's probably 100% polyester or very close.  Not ideal, but I don't care because it fits my vision:

I've envisioned a flowing dress that would be perfect for warm weather.  I usually gravitate toward skin tight or A-line, but wanted something a bit fluffier with this. I wanted fun and girly......or did I?

Enter Colette's Chantilly pattern.  I decided that this would be perfect. It's was "the one" for this fabric.

I even made a muslin of the bodice last night. The fit is great, but now I'm completely second guessing my pattern choice.  I'm not sure if the style is me and I'm not sure if it does the fabric justice. Don't get me wrong, it's an absolutely beautiful pattern, but something is stopping me.

I want the fabric to be the star of this, not necessarily the design.  I'm worried that all of the gathers on Chantilly will take away from the eyelet pattern, and that's what I really want to highlight. 

I'm also second guessing the dress design on me.  I love how it looks on others, but not sure if it's completely right for me because it's not what I usually choose.

I'm thinking of making another Cambie instead. "But didn't you just make one?"  Why yes I did, but that was the A-line version. I think that if I make the full skirt version with this fabric, I'll be happier. I'll get a more fitted bodice, which will be the perfect canvas to display the eyelet pattern, achieving my main goal. And, I'll also get the fluffy skirt that I want, but won't feel like the bodice gathers, the skirt gathers and the fabric are all competing.

I do want to sew a Chantilly, because I do think it would be fun to wear.  Maybe I'll just use it as an excuse to purchase more fabric next week!

I'd love to hear what other people do in this situation.  What happens when you have what you think is the perfect pattern and then second guess yourself.  Do you just go ahead with the original pattern?  Run out to the store and purchase more pattern-appropriate fabric? Or, do you agonize over the decision so much that nothing gets made? (I'm trying not to be guilty of the last one.)

Finished Watermelon Cambie

I've finally finished my Watermelon Stretch Cotton Cambie dress:

It feels great to cross off another project on "The List". This dress has been 90% complete for weeks. I only needed to finish hemming the lining and sew on lace trim (because I do love me some lace).

The details - This is the Cambie dress pattern from Sewaholic, View A.  The fabric is watermelon stretch cotton fabric from Britex. The dress is lined in pink cotton batiste and trimmed with pink lace. I cut a size 6 for the top and graded up to a size 8 at the waist.  I also did a sway back adjustment, which is standard for me on all dress patterns.

The lace trim is also from Britex. I originally purchased it last year when shopping for supplies for my friend's wedding dress.  I went a bit overboard with the yardage and had enough left over to trim the shell and lining hems: 

Is it lace overkill?  Maybe, but I don't care!

Another view?  Well, if you insist:

The lining is a pink cotton batiste, also left over from the wedding dress project. (If you haven't guessed already, the wedding dress was pink.)  I really love the construction of this dress. It's as pretty on the inside as it is on the outside.

 
And check out that zipper. I guess it's sort of a machine sewn/handpicked combo. I'm not sure what else to call it or if it technically fits into either category.

It's been very grey and dreary here, and not conducive to me swapping my sweats for this dress and conducting a proper photo shoot.  I'll try go get some action shots this week.

Macy is SO not impressed with any of this:

"The List"

I'm sure most sewers have a list of projects they want to make.  I have not just a list but "The List".  I sometimes call it my bucket list, but then I think referring to these as the projects I want to do before I die sounds way too dramatic for a list of a few dresses. But then, there's nothing wrong with a bit of drama from time to time.

A small part of "The List" was based on patterns I wanted to sew. Most of the entries started with the fabric - I've just purchased this fabric that I had to have or I would die (there's that drama again)! So now what should I do with it? The latter reason is why I'm going to show you fabric pictures instead of patterns.

So, without further adieu, I give you "The List".

1. Lady Grey Coat:

I have wanted to sew the Lady Grey Coat from Colette Patterns ever since I saw some of the wonderful versions by other bloggers.  It took me a while to find the perfect fabric, but I finally purchased some absolutely beautiful wool last year from Britex in San Francisco.  Pictures do not do this justice! I can't remember if it was called Norwegian or Icelandic Wool, but it has the most fantastic texture.  I'm almost afraid to cut into it.  When the time comes, I'm going all out on this and incorporate every couture tailoring technique I can find.


2. White Floral Cambie:

It took a while for the Cambie pattern from Sewaholic to grow on me. Now, it's grown on me so much that I'm planing to sew two of them.  This one will be the "less sweet" or straight neckline version of this dress. This fabric is from Gorgeous Fabrics.


3. Navy Eyelet Dress:

Back in September, I made it my mission to find some dark blue eyelet for a dress.  Once again, Britex to the rescue!  I've been debating on the perfect pattern for this and right now, Collette's Chantilly is the leading contender.


4. Watermelon Stretch Cotton Cambie Dress:

This is the second Cambie on my list and yes, the fabric was Britex once again. This time it was an online purchase. (See the Britex bag hanging on the wall in the background? That's right, I'm that hardcore about this store.)  I became fixated with this fabric after reading this blog post. I'm happy to say that this project is almost finished! The sweetheart neckline that I thought I could never wear looks really cute in person and I think it actually looks good on me.


5. Blue Wool Skirt:

I picked this wool up during an excursion to one of the few remaining Hancock Fabrics in the Chicago area.  (I really miss having more of these around.) I originally intended to replicate a skirt I saw on the Anthropologie website, but now am not sure.  Do I go A-line? Pencil skirt? So many decisions in life!


6. Brown, Cream and Navy Striped Thurlow Pants:

Let me tell you a story - the year was 2011 and I had just purchased one of my very first Groupons.  It was to Mood and I was so excited to be purchasing fabric from the same place that the Project Runway designers shop!  After debating for days, I decided on this striped wool for a pair of trousers. They even sent me a Mood bag! I was in heaven.  It took me until Sewaholic's Thurlow pattern came out to decide exactly what pattern to use. I'm holding off a bit on this project because I'm trying to lose a few pounds and want to make sure that I fit into whatever size I decide to sew up :)


7. Black Evening Dress:

No photograph can do this fabric justice.  It's from Gorgeous Fabrics, and like the name says,  it is gorgeous!  Ever see a fabric and not know what you want to sew with it but just know that you have to have it no matter what?  That was this fabric.  Since the purchase, I've been doing some research and have really been drawn to some 1950s vintage dress styles.  I'd like to capture that feeling with this dress.  The leading pattern contender is "The Sultry Sheath" from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing.


8. Kitty Bed:

I never promised that everything on "The List" would be clothes or would be fancy. I previously blogged about this kitty bed. It was really nice to be able to cross one item off of my list!


9. Hanging Towel Bag:

Again, definitely not in the fancy category, but something I could really use.  I don't have a picture of this handy, but this pattern and the kitty bed above are from the book One Yard Wonders.


10. Sequin Dress:

I have no pattern, no fabric and no occasion to wear this. I just know I WANT ONE!


11. Brown Lace Dress:

This brown lace purchased from Vogue Fabrics in Evanston, IL.  The original intent was a lace shirt, but then saw a brown lace dress in a store with an exposed metal zipper. And,just like that, plans changed. No pattern yet, but this I'd say some of the more exciting projects are higher on the list so I have time to find something.


12. Dress with my own custom printed fabric:

I've been admiring the designs on Spoonflower. I'd love to try my hand at coming up with my own pattern worthy of being made into a garment.  It's not the highest priority since I have a lot of other fabric to get through first.


13. Retro Apron for my Mom:

She wants and apron and I have a great apron pattern, somewhere.  It's a sign, don't you think? Now, I just have to figure out where I put the pattern, and what fabric I should use.


So that is "The List". I'm excited to see how much of it I can get through this year!