AN OPTIMISTIC DRESS: SAFFRON SILK CHARMEUSE TRUE BIAS OGDEN CAMI DRESS

Oil paintings by my boo, Jason Sho Green.

It’s Thursday. We are still self isolating: Jason works from home, and as a freelancer, I don’t have any work right now, and don’t know if I will for the forseeable future. I read the New York Times and Washington Post somewhat obsessively; I’ve decided to avoid Twitter, Instagram feels like a friendly place to check in on people. I go for a walk outside on the creepily quiet streets every morning and I try to remember to stretch. We don’t turn on the TV until 6pm and I’ve been cooking a lot. Life isn’t bad but it’s a bit boring and I hate that I don’t know when all of this will end. So to soothe myself, I have been sewing. Sewing sewing sewing.

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve decided to avoid the serger, which influences which patterns I pull out. The Ogden Cami by True Bias is ideal (I own the paper pattern, but if you’re stuck at home, it’s available as pdf!)l. If you don’t own a serger, or don’t want to use one, you can make a luxurious, high end looking camisole with this pattern. It seems fancy but sews up quickly, without much fuss. I highly recommend this pattern!

I’m not sure what prompted me to select this as my next pattern, but it was just what I needed. As always, I started with the fabric. I had 3 yards of 44” wide silk charmeuse in my stash that I have been wanting to dye. I bought it at Fulton Fabrics, a local shop, for $5 a yard, which is a steal! It was a sort of champagne color, and it is printed with a subtle texture. I wanted a sunshiney, bright saffron. I acheived this color with equal parts Lemon Yellow and Sunshine Orange Rit Dye. You can find more info about dyeing my posts here & here.

This fabric is fluid and super slinky. I love wearing charmeuse but it does require patience to sew, especially when you have the shiny sides together for a seam. I used a microtex needle and super thin silk pins, both of which prevent snagging and pulling as you work with the fabric. Under normal circumstances, I would have bought a spool of perfectly matching thread, but I made do with a color color I had on hand.

I have sewn the Ogden Cami right out of the envelope a couple of times. I recommend making it once in an inexpensive or not precious fabric to make sure you are happy with the fit; it’s true to size but you may want to tweak the length or straps, etc. Once you have found your size, it’s a wonderful pattern for modifying! For this version, my changes were simple, and designed to minimize fabric scraps:

• I cut the bodice the length of the facings (as they are drafted), plus 2” length. Because I lined the bodice, I cut the lining the same.

• Skirt is 22” long, and not a rectangle, because I hate when patterns have the skirt as a rectangle. There are no rectangles on my body! For the skirt, I cut front and back pieces the same: 22” long and selvedge to selvedge. Then, I made a skirt shape by eyeballing a side seam line that was 4” from selvedge at the waist, tapering to 1.5” at the hem.

• This left me with four 22” long scraps, and that’s what I used to make my straps. Each strap is 22” long, and the extend to be tied into a bow at the shoulders.

• The bottom tier follows the basic ruffle rule of making your ruffle 1.5x as wide as the piece it is attaching to, so it is three 11” long strips, cut selvedge to selvedge. I have only a small scrap left after all this, enough to make a tie belt! That’s just a coincidence…..I’m not sure I would wear this with a belt.

This dress looks best in motion, and it only takes a light breeze to set it fluttering, but I love how it collapses down when I stand still.

Inside the dress: here you can see where I slip stitched the bodice lining into place at the waist seam, as well as the French seam at the side of the skirt.

Aha! The unfinished ruffle seam! I hate to serge it. Still not sure what to do, but it doesn’t fray so I’m not in a rush. I left the selvedges on the ruffle pieces, which were cut the width of the fabric. I love having “Calamo Silk, Inc.” printed there.

My interior finishings were varied. It looks best to me when only one or two techniques are used, but the inside of this dress is super clean, so I’m fine with it. I hand slip stitched the lining to the waist seam, skirt side seams are Frenched, then the ruffle seam allowances are the selvedge, including where the mill printed their name! I used my rolled hem foot to hem the ruffle, and it keeps the hem of this dress light as a feather and super floaty.

You could use any length or number of tiers that you want. If I had more fabric, I think I would have made both my skirt and the ruffle more full, because I love how this fabric billows around my legs. You could also create and incredible amount of volume by adding four or five tiers!

Look closely, and you’ll see Calamo Silk Inc printed on one of the straps! :) You can also see my understitching in not-quite-matching thread. I think it’s fine!

I’m glad I made the straps as ties, because I can adjust the length, but if you use charmeuse and choose to do this, you may need to tie a good knot before your bow - the fabric slides right out, with great potential for a wardrobe malfunction.

Obviously, I won’t be wearing this dress anywhere any time soon, but I think it has a lot of potential in my wardrobe: on it’s own with delicate jewelry, sandals and a sun hat in the summer; layered over a turtleneck and tights with boots in the fall. I’ll look forward to wearing it!

Let me know if you sew a version of this! I think it will lift your spirits, or at the very least distract you from the news, during these tumultuous times. XO Martha