Embroidered Cambie Dress

If you follow me on Instagram (which you totally should btw) you would have seen a sneak peek of this dress probably over 2 months ago when I finished it. I was SO happy with how it turned out, the fabric is perfect, the back was matching up and the fit was pretty spot on. And then the day came when I had to wear it for a special event... And the zipper broke, while I was putting it on. I may have had a total meltdown, and put it aside for weeks until I could mentally face the zipper again.  Anytime a dress has a waistband and a gathered skirt it does the invisible zipper gives me a hard time.

Anyway, this is my second Sewaholic Cambie dress. The first version I made was out of the Kokka fabric, and I made the A-line skirt. I tweaked the fit a little for this one, raising the neckline, and making a new sweetheart shape. 

The fabric is this crazy cute. It's an magenta embroidered cotton on a black background, made in Italy that I bought at Fabricland. We only got a small amount of this beauty, so I quickly snatched up 3 yards. We sold out out of it the next day! The skirt I gathered on the crossgrain to take advantage of the edge of the embroidery. I carefully zig-zagged around the flowers on the bottom and cut away the excess black for my hem. The whole thing is lined in black Robert Kaufman savannah cotton, I love this stuff for linings, it's SO soft and not too expensive. 

I wore this dress to the Project Fabricland fashion snow, and it was a big hit! I even made a hat to match it since some of the students participated in a Head to Hem challenge. I'll show you my hat later this week! 

Quilt Dress

When I saw the Mary Adams quilt dress (below) I knew I had to make my own. I've been obsessed with her book The Party Dress Book, she has so many different ideas for dressmaking, including an entire chapter on piecing. So I bought a fat quarter bundles on etsy, I'm in love with the April showers print from Moda. I also got a  flying geese ruler which is just a triangle with different sizes on it, to make the pieced bodice front and skirt front. 

Inspiration from dressmaker Mary Adams

                           

I used the smallest flying geese measurement for the bodice, It worked out that four across fit perfectly for the front piece of the princess seamed top from a Colette pattern I knew would fit me. I made the front side pieces the April shower print and the side back and back pieces in coordinating prints. The triangles are made from 9 different fabrics, and a light green seersucker background.

The skirt is made from strips of the fabrics, some from the Moda collection, some I got at Fabricland to match. The strips are cut at different widths, and sewn together and attached to the other pieced part I made. The skirt "quilted" part in the front is two sizes bigger than the bodice, 2 1/2 inches, I also made them four across, and gathered the whole thing to attach to the top.

The skirt was a little bit short so to hem it I made a facing from the leftover seersucker and sewed it at 1/4". This dress is fully lined to prevents all the pieces from unraveling. It is so fun to wear...I wore it to work and people stopped just to look at it! I might even make another one if I fall in love with another group of fat quarters. It was a lot of work to make, I spent a ton of time cutting and piecing, but I think it was worth it!