In my post earlier in the week I revealed that I had made a dress for my wedding reception. Well, although muslins aren't my favourite thing to do and I have been known not to both with them from time to time, I thought a wedding dress deserved the effort involved in making a muslin! As described in my inspiration post I wanted to make a dress with a full bodied gathered skirt, a sweetheart bodice and a spotty tulle asymmetrical overlay. After searching through my pattern collection I realised that the Sewaholic Cambie dress would be pretty much perfect for this!
I had seen so many beautiful versions of this dress so I was excited to finally make one for myself. There was a gorgeous floral cotton in my stash and although I was nervous to 'waste' it on a muslin that might not work out I decided to just go for it and hope for the best! I'm so glad I did as I absolutely LOVE this dress - definitely one of my favourite makes.
And Tasia strikes again with her fantastic pattern drafting and instruction writing. What a dream this was to sew up. Every step of the way was a joy, and I'm definitely getting good at putting in an invisible zip. I lined the dress in the softest, butteriest white cotton lawn and it is so beautiful next to the skin. Perhaps a little pricey as linings go, but I think I'm converted! The only thing I would say is that occasionally you can see the lining peeking out past the sleeves, as you can see in the above photo, so perhaps I should have under-stitched that or something?
Now for the blooper! My dress strangely ended up tight at the waist - like, no eating at all while wearing the dress and sit down while holding your breath in tight! I couldn't understand why this had happened because I was sure that I had cut my size. And then I checked what size I had cut out…yes, I had cut my correct waist size, but it was the waist size of the FINISHED garment I had read, rather than the pattern size to cut (which would have included ease)!!! Doh! So it's a bit on the snug side, to say the least.
Ironically this turned out for the best because for my actual wedding reception dress I would be needing to get rid of the sleeves and make the dress strapless. That would mean adding boning for support and a tighter fit would be advantageous as well! Everything happens for a reason so it seems.
On a side note, after wearing this dress a couple of times, I noticed that some of the stitches where you attach the sleeves to the bodice had ripped and the corner of the sleeve is peeking out. I do believe that that is mainly because I have made the dress too tight for me, but it is also a place that would come under a bit of day to day strain, so I would recommend reinforcing that line of stitches if you are ever planning on making a version for yourself.
So all in all this is a fabulous dress and I am totally in love with it. I feel super girly in it and find myself flouncing around like a fool - but I kind of like that! I see many more Cambies in my life.
Oh - and it has pockets! I LOVE POCKETS!!!!!
That is all.
