I'm so happy to finally be allowed to reveal my Cami Dress!
Sewing this dress was really enjoyable for a cami-nation (get it?) of reasons. Aside from the fact that Pauline did a really great job with the pattern (heck, you would never guess this is her first!) I had forgotten how much fun it is to sew with a stable fabric such as cotton. Not to say that sewing the collar was easy-peasy, but you know...

Modifications:
- A ton of things in the bodice. Won't go through it all, but basically all the normal adjustments I usually make to account for the following figure variations: pear shape, narrow upper chest, forward head and slightly-rounded upper back. That last one led me to add gathers right at the base of the neck under the collar and I quite like the result.
- I squared off the tip of the collar a bit for a more current look.
- I made the skirt less voluminous by removing about 20 inches in width at the bottom and maybe 25 inches at the waist. I concentrated the gathers bellow the four waist darts.

What I will do differently next time:
- Not cut the shoulders so narrow. I'm not sure where things went wrong here, but I think I made the mistake while comparing the pattern pieces with my bodice bloc. (See bellow. The shoulder/sleeve seam is weird!)

- For some reason, I only had an extra long zipper, and for some reason I felt that I needed to "get value for my money" by using as much of the zipper as I could in the side seam. Believe it or not, this led me to lower the pockets by 4 inches. Who in their right mind would do such a thing? Apparently me. We now have to contort our shoulders forward to put our hands in our pockets. Yep...
Tips:
- The instructions call for double thickness of interfacing and if you're like me, you might be prone to thinking "I'm sure one layer will be enough." You must not succumb to this temptation. Just stick with the instructions. Now, my cuffs are not as nice and crisp as they should be.
All and all, it was a pleasure working with this pattern (which you can purchase over here in downloadable PDF format for a very decent 8 euros). I look forward to seeing what Pauline Alice has in store for us in terms of pattern #2, #3 and beyond! Thank you for inviting me to be a pattern tester!
Sewing this dress was really enjoyable for a cami-nation (get it?) of reasons. Aside from the fact that Pauline did a really great job with the pattern (heck, you would never guess this is her first!) I had forgotten how much fun it is to sew with a stable fabric such as cotton. Not to say that sewing the collar was easy-peasy, but you know...

Modifications:
- A ton of things in the bodice. Won't go through it all, but basically all the normal adjustments I usually make to account for the following figure variations: pear shape, narrow upper chest, forward head and slightly-rounded upper back. That last one led me to add gathers right at the base of the neck under the collar and I quite like the result.
- I squared off the tip of the collar a bit for a more current look.
- I made the skirt less voluminous by removing about 20 inches in width at the bottom and maybe 25 inches at the waist. I concentrated the gathers bellow the four waist darts.

What I will do differently next time:
- Not cut the shoulders so narrow. I'm not sure where things went wrong here, but I think I made the mistake while comparing the pattern pieces with my bodice bloc. (See bellow. The shoulder/sleeve seam is weird!)

- For some reason, I only had an extra long zipper, and for some reason I felt that I needed to "get value for my money" by using as much of the zipper as I could in the side seam. Believe it or not, this led me to lower the pockets by 4 inches. Who in their right mind would do such a thing? Apparently me. We now have to contort our shoulders forward to put our hands in our pockets. Yep...
Tips:
- The instructions call for double thickness of interfacing and if you're like me, you might be prone to thinking "I'm sure one layer will be enough." You must not succumb to this temptation. Just stick with the instructions. Now, my cuffs are not as nice and crisp as they should be.
All and all, it was a pleasure working with this pattern (which you can purchase over here in downloadable PDF format for a very decent 8 euros). I look forward to seeing what Pauline Alice has in store for us in terms of pattern #2, #3 and beyond! Thank you for inviting me to be a pattern tester!
This is pretty sweet but like, SWEET! not sugar sweet. You'd think the gingham plus the shirt dress would read Dorothy but it doesn't at all. Maybe it's just the buttoned to the top thing but I think it's pretty cool. A pair of docs and its almost punk!
ReplyDeleteOMG the similarity did not even CROSS my mind. It's totally Dorothy! On the bright side, I have my Halloween costume figured out?
DeleteAdd braids and I'm set.
DeleteI love this! It's got that really cool editorial look, very pretty but also edgy in a way.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Clare!
DeleteGreat dress... Really sweet pattern...
ReplyDeleteAaah, a new wave of great patterns. This is a lovely. I've just gone and bought it!
ReplyDeleteWohoo!
DeleteYou're going to love it!
DeleteI really like this dress, well done it looks great. And who needs pockets anyway!
ReplyDeleteYou've made an amazing gingham version Adrienne! Thanks for being one of the testers, it was so nice to share this adventure with you!
ReplyDeleteYay to a new dress! A bit vintage and a bit modern with the collar buttoned up. I hadn't noticed the gathers in the back, I love them! Anyways, I just purchased the pattern :)
ReplyDeleteVery very pretty! I'm getting a vintage-y vibe from your look, a bit Dorothy, in a good way! If it were mine I would totally start red-sparkling some shoes to go with it... ;)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful versión Adrienne, Congratulations! I used ginham for mine too but my collar doesn't fit as well as yours.
ReplyDeleteI really like your version! If I was to make this dress I think I would take some of the fullness out of the skirt too :)
ReplyDeleteIt is totally Dorothy and since that's one of my favourite movies, I totally love it!! It seems like a great shirt-dress pattern. You need those metal claw arms that pick up things in order to be able to reach your pockets. :P
ReplyDeleteThe dress is great. I love the fabric you used and the pattern seems nice.
ReplyDeleteGreat dress!
ReplyDeleteLove your version, except for the pockets I suppose -shame they are really useful! I finally posted my version, I actually went for one layer of interfacing - but only because I used drill cotton that is a bit heavier.
ReplyDelete