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.)

A multitude of tops: LB top, Hemlock, Glacial

This was prompted by a need to make a top for a friend, first of all.  But also, I had had a Vision, as you do and needed to follow it through. 

First off: the LB top by Paper Theory. As I have done before, this is without the funnel neck and without sleeves and without any other modifications. It creates a simple little shift top.  In this lovely flannel like fabric from Lamazi fabrics it's so cozy and drapey - I bought the wrong colour (it's hideous!  Haha the combination of dark green and gold really isn't my thing) and will suit my olive skinned friend Regina to perfection.  I use a small piece of bias binding for the neck, just folded over the sleeves on a double fold, and same to hem the bottom.  

 

Grainline Hemlock with minor modification of the sleeve 

This is a one-size pattern. 

This was my vision.  I have worked this pattern to death and my pattern pieces are a mess because of that, many pieces of badly labelled and taped together tracing paper.  Am I the only one who only accepts wrapping of my shopping if it will be wrapped in white tracing paper that I can reuse for sewing?

This version has just a bit of the sleeve added onto the shoulder compared to the original (which is a FREE PATTERN) - really just enough to create a seam allowance.  I have long since cropped it from the original which is a long shapeless top.  I then did a cuff of the same size as that sleeve bit - think maybe I should have tapered it a little. The cuff is folded double.  This fabric is by Mind the Maker.  It is their oeko-tex 100% cotton "organic slub jacquard".  It is quite heavy, almost sweaterlike, with only mechanical stretch and texture woven in.  Therefore a bit tricky as you need to think carefully what pattern it will suit.

 When I made this top I was really disgruntled the entire time because it looked so big and so...meh.  But the pictures show me that despite various neck band issues (I think I was planning to do it as a facing style band but that stretched out like crazy so then I did a tshirt type band instead), it matches my vision exactly.  I wanted a cropped but oversized pale top to wear all summer.  I need to get on with that next step - "wear all summer" cause the hot days are here. 

Pattern Fantastique Glacial skivvy, S 

This is the third of the tshirt bundle from Pattern Fantastique.  The price for the bundle was good.  I suddenly wanted a nice baselayer top (which I won't wear for months, honestly) and I thought this would be a great choice.  I didn't size down as the fabric I am using is a medium weight and not super stretchy, and the pattern is specifically drafted for merino blends.  This is another one of the Oeko-tex fabrics I got from my european shopping binge, this particular one from Ansje Handmade.  It is Mind the Maker organic woolen ottoman, 85% cotton, 15% wool.  It has a kind of horizontal rib look on one side and a smooth other side, and has a bit of a sticky feel ie none of the drapey dampness of rayon or viscose.  I went with the short waist length and to my surprise for a baselayer I could even have gone longer.  The long sleeves are just as the pattern says they will be - they go perfectly to my knuckles.  Near the end of winter and in early spring I was wishing for a top like this so I assume once the weather cools again I will wear it a lot.   

 

These patterns don't have any instructions, which is why they are cheap for the 3 patterns - but there are some instructions online if you need them (I think the Aeolian has more detailed instructions somewhere online too.)  I'm really enjoying this tee bundle!  The Equinox was lovely, though now that I've worn mine I will stick with the smaller size I made - and I'm sure once I get the itch to make the Aeolian I'll go crazy and make 3.

Paper Theory LB top

As I was prepping this pattern, which was totally a late night spur of the moment purchase (I blame everything on night shifts!!)  I berated myself for buying another shapeless, drop shoulder top.  Don't I already have more than one similar pattern? I mean I have the Califaye Rumi top, and the Toaster sweater...I suppose they are all a tiny bit different. Meaningfully different.  Somehow.

Luckily the simplest patterns can hide some magic, and on accident I got this one right. The fabric is a knit jacquard from The Fabric Store, it's a blend with merino, but I'm not sure what else. The combo of this fabric and this pattern is just perfect. Alone I think the pattern might be a bit boring, but the fabric livens it up.  Because it's an airy pattern, it would also be good for those rather heavy warm knits, that will boil you alive if they are too fitted. 

I made size 8, which matched my measurements.

It's a very technically simple top and it didn't take long to make. I was so satisfied that I immediately riffled through my stash for a scrap to make a woven sleeveless version.

The sleeveless version is made of silk noil.  It's great!
It...also looks quite a bit like other tops I've made recently like the Strata top and the Botany top.

Here it is under the Botany top - it's wider and longer, but without the curved hem or the curved underarm of the Strata.

Overall a simple pattern that's surprisingly versatile.