Comments on dresses: reviewing the Camber set and the Botany dress

The Camber Set.

I really always promise myself that I won't make this again.  But then I forget.

This time I felt like for sure I could modify the pattern and it would be great!! 

Made up in a kind of shifty dry linen (I used the rest of it for my Georgia top.) 

The only adjustment is a wide shoulder adjustment I applied to it awhile ago. You can see that in the back view as it kind of hangs off my shoulder.  I think this is actually the incorrect adjustment for me to make, but it's taken awhile to realise it.   

 

I think it's time to just simply confirm I don't like this dress.  In my head, this is exactly what I like wearing.  But I make it and each time I think ew.  Fixing the shoulders would probably not make me inspired to reach for this shape dress.  Ironically the other dress by M&M, the trapeze dress, fits me *perfectly* through the arm yet for some reason I keep not making it again.  Note to self: trapeze dress.  Maybe in a knit.  Hm...

Botany dress 

When I made this before I thought it was unsalvageable as a pattern and I gave it to a friend.  She loves it and went on to make herself a bunch more.  But then midwinter I got these cockatoos and the fine drape of the voile made me think it would be fine. Shapeless dress for summer? Yes please!!  I was wrong. 

This is theoretically salvageable if I removed the skirt, took 2 inches off the bodice and reapplied.  It's a great dress for those with long torsos, my friend Tessa loves it.  Because I am lazy and I have some cockatoo fabric left, this is going to a less picky friend.  I might stop trying here.  I think I need another Botany top with ruffle, because I gave away my red one and kind of loved it.  Oops.

I think I've moved on from shift dresses in the styles I keep attempting here.  I like the Georgia dress reasonably well and that seems to be the shift dress style that is a win for me, but my 3 Georgia dresses still are inconvenient because they don't go with bike riding, and my Georgia top isn't the favourite of my shapeless square tops (Botany, LB, Strata...I think the LB is actually the best fitting for me.)

Elbe Textiles Botany dress & more tops

After making two Botany tops I finally went for a fabric I've been very excited about and cut out the dress. I thought my chances of success were high - the top fits great.  And I was really curious how the dress would fit considering the amount of ease.

I barely eked this out of my fabric and used some scraps of black silk noil for the bias taping. Because it didn't quite match the colour, I ended up flipping it to the inside, instead of keeping it on the outside.

The skirt was really easy to make, not adding much time to construction at all.

But in the end, this was a total sack - exactly because the same amount of ease is present in the dress as is in the top.  To make it fit, I'd have to remove 2 vertical inches from front and back of all pieces, and maybe add a zip.  Indeed, maybe I'll do that one day, because it's still very cute.

I debated removing fabric from the back, or removing the skirt and having another top.  But in the end I decided to send it to my sewing partner Tessa in New Zealand.  It's summer there!  And she loves it and looks great in it!

As I perused my photos, I thought possibly adding the ruffle would improve the dress even without changing the size.  Another option would be using a very fine drapy fabric that might appear shapeless but would shift with a breeze...I still haven't given up on this idea.

The top is an upcycled linen dress from goodwill.  When I saw the ankle length dress I thought I could make anything out of it!  But in fact with side slits I lost a lot of potential yardage so I just went for a botany top with some fancy pockets. I wore it quite a bit and then donated it to my cousin with the excuse that it's summer in the northern hemisphere (now I can make myself another one with a ruffle...)

The final top is made from a fantastic scrap of Marimekko fabric I got on etsy. Every now and then I have warm memory pangs from my time living in Finland, and I buy some Marimekko fabric or Moomin mugs...The pattern is too huge to make a little bag, and I love it too much, so I managed to fit it onto the front of a Botany top. The back is some stretch silk-cotton mystery blend from the sale bin at The Fabric Store in Auckland.

I didn't quite get these done before I left Arizona, hence the delays and the change in scenery!  The mushroom top is really fabulous, because the stretchy back gives it more movement. I did a micro hem by overlocking the hem and folding it over 3/8" because I wanted to save as much of the woodpecker as possible. I'm really happy with how this came out, I put quite a bit of effort into saving all the best graphics on the fabric scrap - a tiny bit more woodpecker would be nice but as it is I think it's a good balance with a touch of red on each side.


There's still one more Botany that I cut out in the States and haven't sewn yet, but I think you get the idea...

Elbe Textiles Botany top x 2

When I discovered this top on Kylie and the Machine's Instagram I was in love, both with the top and with the new pattern company Elbe Textiles.

BUT it took awhile to get my act together to sew it.  I was moving and travelling for awhile. That made this simple project seem like a huge deal.

I looked over the instructions and didn't follow them at all. I used a scrap of leftover silk noil and size XS. I sewed front and back together - I had to cut the back in two pieces - and then added my bindings.  This reminded me at that point of the Emmeline top by the Little Tailoress. I think she has since rebranded and come out with other patterns but the concept was the same - a very simple top - though in the case of the Emmeline it had terrible instructions and bad drafting on versions a and b.

Seems like I might revisit that top now as the Botany showed me how you could get a good finish on these kimono sleeves - by leaving the side seams open, finishing the sleeve with binding, and then sewing the side seam, you get a clean finish on all edges.  I was totally unable to figure this out myself but despite the messy finish, I loved my version of the Emmeline, view C, which I lengthened with the hem of the Polly top. (here)

Here's my first Botany!  I love it, it goes over a tank top for some style or alone for some air.  It's the perfect fabric.  Do note that I'm 5'4" and can never repeat often enough - I have NO torso.  My ribs practically hit my hips.  So if you don't want this to be very cropped you might want to lengthen it.

I climbed to the top of a mountain for these pictures!  It was very cold and windy...

So I decided to do a second one in stretch silk but I didn't have enough fabric to double the see-through front, giving me the excuse to use this ugly piece of lace I picked up and want to be rid of.  Of course having two layers both front and back meant this took a bit more attention, and this time I did leave the side seams to apply the bias tape flat, though I did the neckline last instead of also doing it flat.  I added on the ruffle to see what I thought of it.  I promised this top to one of my nurses right away as I thought I'd hate the lace.  I do really like the ruffle though, and I think I might make more of these once I see what fabrics my stash can provide.

I have a new tripod! I'm rather more inspired when I'm outdoors, apparently.