One of the fun things about sewing for my cousin Freya is getting to sew up styles that I really wouldn’t wear myself. You know, those styles that show off a tiny waist. I don’t have a tiny waist – but Freya does. Despite having jumped on the Tessuti Sophie bandwagon quickly, I was very slow to jump on the Sewaholic Cambie bandwagon. This pattern came out a couple of years ago, and was number two on the Sewing Review Best Patterns of 2012 list. This meant that there were what seemed like a million reviews and tutorials on the internet, so there were plenty of resources available for reference. Not that I used any of them actually – I just followed the pattern instructions.
Oh it’s a good thing for me that Ada is adjustable and I could dial her down to Freya’s measurements! I chose to make the A-line skirt version, mostly due to fabric restrictions. The bodice is lined, and I used the same fabric for lining, but decided not to line the skirt.
Freya’s measurements exactly correspond with Sewaholic’s size 10. Yippee! So that’s what I sewed. The invisible zipper through the back shows ever so slightly at the waistband, where the fabric is thicker, but otherwise it is basically invisible as per the name. When it was on Freya it was quite invisible at the skirt – the photo above is deceptive. I wasn’t able to pattern match the florals, but didn’t actually try to. (I watched the first episode of the 3rd series of the Great British Sewing Bee yesterday and now every tiny imperfection in my sewing is glaring at me each time I sit at the machine or touch anything I’ve made). The seams do line up nicely though!
There are side seam pockets, which were straightforward to construct. I stabilised the angled pocket openings with stay tape before stitching. It’s always worth remembering to do that on seams that are cut on an angle to the grain.
Unfortunately when Freya eventually tried her dress on it fit perfectly everywhere except vertically through the upper bodice. The perils of sewing for someone else without having them available for fitting! We have finally decided that she is proportionately shorter from the bust to the shoulder, which leads to bodice gaping in styles like this one. As it turns out, lately she has been getting ready to wear clothes altered to shorten them in that area, and she’s going to get her alterations person to alter this dress too (I could have done it but Freya lives half an hour’s drive away from me and this way she’ll have her dress back much sooner). The sleeves/straps need to be shortened, which in this case means unpicking the bodice lining to access the straps, unpicking them from the top of the bodice then pulling them through an inch or so before restitching. That will eliminate the bodice gaping that is currently there. I will now remember to do this with future garments I make for Freya. We are similar heights, but interestingly for me I usually make the petite adjustment through the body between the bust and the waist, and rarely between the bust and shoulder. Different proportions and alterations are needed for different bodies, even when their heights are similar and often even when their circumferential measurements seem similar! We are three dimensional, and simple measurements don’t always reflect our similarities and differences accurately.
I’ll add a modelled photo when one becomes available. ETA – a photo just came through! Hooray! It looks fantastic on Freya! Construction was shared between the sewing machine and the overlocker, and I used the machine to blind hem the skirt. This was quite straightforward to make, and does end with a pretty result. The cotton (a gift) was easy to sew, and I was pleased to move this pattern from the unsewn pattern drawer to the sewn pattern drawer! (Don’t you organise your patterns like that too?)
