My yellow Cambie dress for the Sew Weekly

46 comments


THE FACTS
Fabric: 3 1/4 yards of yellow quilting cotton
Pattern: Sewaholic's Cambie dress
Year: 2012
Notions: Invisible zipper, fusible interfacing, thread.
First worn: To dinner with my friends.
Wear again: Yes!
Time to complete: I never keep track, I sew an hour here and there over multiple days.
Total cost: Approximately $35 


I worked on this dress for over a month and before I even got out my sewing machine I thought the project would be doomed. Why? My pup tore apart bits of my pattern and the pattern envelope :(

How could I ever get mad at a face like that, though? I salvaged what I could, but some pattern pieces are not a pretty sight. I didn't have any trouble sewing up the pattern until it came to the waistband. I don't know if I traced incorrectly due to the torn pattern, but the waistband was a good 1 inch shorter than the bodice and I didn't have any extra fabric. Luckily when I made the bodice the same size as the waistband it all worked out. It's a bit tight (no pasta dinners for me in this dress!), but it works.


Dresses with pockets = LOVE

I look forward to making this pattern again, but with a proper waistband next time! :) The pattern directions were very straightforward and any issues I had were because of me or Frankie, my dog.
P.S. Does my fabric look familiar? It's the same fabric that Lauren used on her lovely dress!

46 comments :

  1. Aaaw, this is such a gorgeous and happy dress! I love it on you and I can't wait to get around to making my very own!

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  2. Love it! Especially how you've got the contrast with the belt and shoes which balance the whole outfit beautifully with your hair. Oh yeah - and the dress looks awesome on, too!!! :)

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  3. It looks fabulous! I've been itching for something yellow these days... I need to find myself some nice yellow fabric.

    Your dress is really great and I totally feel for you with the chewed pattern pieces. Last year when I made the Rooibos dress, my daughter (about 6 months at the time and a big fan of eating paper... so glad she's over that) got a hold of a pattern piece and made it completely unusable! I had to e-mail Sarai and BEG (this was an awkward e-mail, let me tell you) to get a pdf of that pattern piece. It was not funny at the time but everything worked out in the end!

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    1. Oh, I was in a rage when it happened to me hahah, so I totally get where you are coming from! How did the dress turn out?

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  4. I love love love that fabric and the Cambie. I like Lauren's as well and the two are so different and both so completely adorable!!!!

    I just want to clarify something, though. I'm a quilter and I also know that fabric. It's a cotton/poly and it has much more drape than a regular all cotton quilting fabric. It's also a bit thinner. I present this obnoxious bit of information because I worry that people will try to make the Cambie out of quilting fabric. That might be fine but, boy, as a quilter turned sewer it took me a really long time to realize that quilting cottons don't look so great on some patterns (Hello, awkward and stiff Sencha). I'm not sure if Cambie would be OK or not but I'm just trying to prevent some stiffy dresses coming out of this post. Call me: incredibly picky and obnoxiously helpful.....

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    1. You are not picky or obnoxious! I should have mentioned that the fabric was slightly thinner than standard quilting cotton :)

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  5. Awesome job! Love how you styled it with the thin black belt & black shoes - perfection! :) Totally feel ya on pet pattern desecration - my cat is naughty too, but no... you can't get too mad can you? That pose your puppy pulled is too adorable ^__^

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    1. Has your cat torn up any of your patterns? You feel my pain then! I can't even make view a of the Cambie. Thanks Frankie :(

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    2. Yes... yes he has... my Pastille pattern fell victim. Fortunately I was right there so I was able to save it from total annihilation though LOL

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  6. I adore you in yellow! This dress looks smashing, especially paired with the black belt and shoes! You did exceptionally well considering Frankie set your sewing back a bit. I'm excited to see what other versions you make, and you definitely have me searching for a yellow cambie of my own now :)

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  7. gorgeous! the color is delicious on you, you're a ray of sunshine:)

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  8. Can I just say I LOVE how this fabric looks completely different when paired with blue or black? The detailing totally looks black in your pictures haha... crazy stuff. Anyway, perfect fabric for a Cambie :) Man, I need this pattern so bad... everyone's is so so perfect, and here I am seething in jealousy because I WANT ONE TOO.

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    1. You NEED one! It's one of my favorite dresses that I have sewn up... not like I have made THAT many dresses in my short sewing career, but I love it nonetheless.

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  9. Another adorable creation. And another great Cambie. What a perfect pattern this seems to be. I love your happy photos. Oonaballoona is right--You ARE a ray of sunshine.

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  10. Favorite Cambie so far! It looks SO good on you, great fit, great fabric!!

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  11. This dress looks awesome on you Erin, great job! and way to improvise with the waist band. Love the pic of Frankie, she is darling :)

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  12. Lovely! This version has put me over the edge, I have to get this pattern! :)

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  13. Hi! I'm Giusy from Italy. More I look at this pattern, more I like it! Your version is beautiful, yellow dresses are definitely on my favorites list :)

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  14. OMG adorable :) So funny, as soon as I saw it I was like "where have I seen that fabric before...?". Anyway this rocks so hard! I need...Cambie.....

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  15. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!! I seriously love the color yellow, and it looks especially lovely on you. Not to mention this dress looks super professionally made! Well done, Lady :)

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  16. Gah!! This is such a gorgeous dress! I pink puffy heart it and am doing a happy dress dance as we speak. Marvellous, marvellous job, my lovely!

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  17. This is gorgeous and the colour really suits you. The fit looks perfect too. Super awesome!!

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    1. Thank you! The fit is a bit tight, but it is still wearable.

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  18. I love this dress and the fabric even more!!!!

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  19. Saw you over on the Sew Weekly and had to stop by to say I really love this dress!

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    1. Hello! Thank you for stopping by, you're so sweet! xo

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  20. OMG. You are SO freaking cute, I'm gonna punch you!
    Seriously, what's a girl gotta do to get you to sew her a dress like this? :)
    xo

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    1. You're going to punch me?!?! hahahah best comment ever!

      I don't think my skills are up to sewing for others quite yet :(

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  21. LOVE this-- it's so, so cute! And I hear you about dogs-- you just can't be mad at them, even when they're bad!

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  22. Oh my gorgeous! Wear that every day. Do it.

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  23. Now I'm inspired! I have that pattern and haven't gotten off my butt to make it yet. It's SO cute on you!!!

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  24. I was so excited to see you on The Sew Weekly a while back. I just spent a good amount of time looking at all your creations here and this one is my favorite. I really like the macaron too. I wish I could sew some of these up, but gotta lose some baby weight first!

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    1. Hi Laura! I'm glad you found my blog! If you are ever in town we should do a sew day together :) Where are you guys living now?

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  25. I know I am late to this, but I have been searching for others who had issues with the Cambie waistband to see what they did to fix it. For me, I cut out the same size waistband and skirt, but the waistband was too short to fit around the skirt waist. And I can't blame it on a pattern-chomping pup. Aaaah! I guess I'll just cut out the waistband in a larger size.



    Also, that's a lovely dress you made. The print is beautiful, and the color looks great on you.

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  26. Thanks, Jennifer!

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