Chambray Obsession: A Spotty Camber

Readers, I dream in chambray at the moment. I see it everywhere. It haunts me, making me believe that every garment should be in chambray. And yet, I cannot find dark denim chambray anywhere. Tessuti had lovely pale stuff, but the colour was much too pale for me. Over summer I did find some dark coloured spotty chambray at Tessuti Surrey Hills. I bought the last of the roll - about 1.6m of it. I   had thought I would make a bomber jacket out of it, but then realised it was too fine.

So I decided to make another Camber Dress by Merchant and Mills. I wear my linen version so much I knew this would be a wardrobe staple, and it only takes about 1.5m of fabric.

Guess who loves her Santa hat so much it is being worn as a trans-seasonal, every day hat? Hint: it's not me or Bessie.  

I made it the same as my last one. Size 14 at the shoulders and a size 10 through the body. I accidentally cut it too short however, so I bound the hem to preserve as much length as possible.

Look at my spot matching down the back through the yoke and dress! Almost perfect.

I love this dress. The chambray is really soft. It is perhaps a smidge too short. I wore it to Little M's birthday party yesterday (a blog post on that to come!), and had to be a little careful with how I sat/bent etc., especially as it was a fine day (phew!) and I wasn't wearing tights.

So, my question is -- where do I find lovely dark plain chambray? Please, if you know, I need all the details!

The Camber Dress Goes to Geelong

Well, my alone time has come to an end. I'm actually quite relieved - I missed Little M pretty badly. And Michael. But Little M more.

As I mentioned in my last post, I went to Geelong for some fabric shopping and a mini-sewist catch up. I actually sewed a frock for it, but when I got to Anna's house on Saturday we both decided we liked my Merchant and Mills' Camber Dress more.

This is one of the first Merchant and Mills multi-sized patterns, and I have to say I am glad it was multi-sized. I sewed a size 14 at the shoulders, grading to a size 10 everywhere else. Thank goodness for the other size lines - it made it so much easier to meld the sizes together nicely. I also shortened (!) the pattern by 4cm. Yes readers, that is correct. I actually had to shorten a pattern.

The fabric is from Tessuti and is a linen that I couldn't find on their online store webpage. It is pretty lush - very soft but still a nice weight which meant I didn't need to underline or line it. Perfect summer dress.

I sort of see this as Gabby 2.0 for me. It is not as 'sack like' as Gabby but still remains faithful to the the essence of Gabby - light, breezy, perfect. And allows a fabric to shine through.

You may be able to see from the above photo that the Camber dress has a back yoke. I love this detail - it gives a bit of shaping and interest.

I hate my new haircut. Have no idea what my hairdresser was thinking.

I had such a wonderful day. All my photos are taken at Joy's Fabric Warehouse where Renay works. I bought linen - quite a bit of linen. And one piece of jersey. And a length of chambray. It sounds like I bought tonnes, but I actually came in at budget - Michael was quite pleased with me!

After fabric shopping we went to lunch/dinner/a meal at Customs House in Geelong. I had an asian-inspired squid salad that was divine. Another Rachel joined us - she doesn't blog yet, but I'm hoping she will soon! As the sun was starting to go down, Anna and I drove home. I said good night to her cute little girls then went home and collapsed into bed! It was a big day!

What do you think of the Camber dress? I've actually sewn another one in spotty linen this weekend and have cut out the shirt version in white linen (purchased at Joy's). Are you tempted to buy it? And if you're up for a drive to Geelong, I seriously recommend Joy's Fabric Warehouse. Be sure to go on a day Renay is working - she's lurverly!!

Tessuti Gridlock Sewing Competition Entry

Have everyone been watching the entries for the Tessuti Gridlock Sewing Competition pop up all over the place? There are some mighty fine creations out there. I have thrown my hat in the ring too - there is $1000 at stake! Think of all the fabric you could buy with $1000!

For this competition you have to use the fabric 'Gridlock' from Tessuti. It is a jacquard, and I must admit I wasn't sure what to make. In the end, I chose the Merchant and Mills Panel Dress Pattern. I thought something simple with pattern pieces that might allow me to use both sides of the fabric might do the trick. 

I hadn't used a Merchant and Mills pattern before so I muslined it. I think this was necessary as the Merchant and Mills patterns are not multi-sized. You pick your size and hold your breath and hope for the best. I chose the size 12 and it didn't require too many alterations.  

The pattern is pretty amazing. It comes printed on card with all the holes punched out already (i.e., for your darts and all the notches). It comes rolled in the cylinder and also has a hook to hang the pattern pieces from (they now live hanging on my wall in my sewing room.). Pretty cool huh? 

Here are the alterations I made:

• I added a back vent. 
• I lowered the neckline by 1.5cm.
• I took in the CF by 3cm in total.
• I took in the CB at the top by 2cm. 

I had a lot of fun deciding which side of the fabric to do each panel - here is what I came up with:

I decided to underline the entire dress in blue silk/cotton lining from Tessuti. I hand basted it all together (it took me FOREVER):

And here is the dress!

I'm not going to lie - I'm not sure this colour is for me. Blogless Anna was over at my house a few weekends ago for a ladies' sewing arvo and she tried it on - I think I will be gifting this dress to her. Her colouring really really suited the lovely jacaranda blue of this dress.

Colour aside, I had so much fun making this dress. It really made me pay a lot of attention to finishing the dress, and I had to really think about what to make as jacquard is not a fabric I naturally gravitate to (I'm really a cotton and linen girl).

So that is my competition entry - what do you think? Make sure you check out the Pinterest page Tessuti are putting all the entries onto (look on the Tessuti blog for the link) - there are some really amazing garments popping up!