Crazy for Cambie (and the Great British Sewing Bee)

I finally made my first Cambie!

I've been ogling this pattern for bloody ages it seems, stalking photos of it all over t'interweb and mainly swooning over it. Then I got it as an Xmas present, along with some bottle green cotton. It might even qualify as emerald green, Pantone's colour of the year, no? Get me, all cool and on trend!

Looking Pantonely smug...

I went for the A line skirt version as my first go, mainly because I thought I'd get more wear out of it (eg at work) although I'm in love with the full skirt version that Tasia made when the pattern was first launched. I'll be looking for a similar sort of fabric to make that up, methinks!

It was reasonably easy to sew. I made both the dress and lining at the same time rather than one after the other, it might have got very boring otherwise. The instructions are minimal, and do presume some pre-existing knowledge but the diagrams are good and Tasia's tutorials are fab. It took me a while to get my head round joining the dress and lining at the zip but now that I have, I think I'll be using this method forever. I cut a size 2 based on the finished garment measurements on the back of the envelope and although I'm very happy with the look of the finished dress, I do wish I'd cut the next size up for the bodice and waistband as it doesn't leave me much room to breathe!! I'll remember for the next version!

This is my first ever lined garment - and I'm so proud of the finish! I used some slippery poly lining which was fine to sew but doing normal zig zag finishing of the seams looked awful (I don't have an overlocker). So after one look at my first set of seams, I decided to French seam the rest, which looks bloody brilliant!

Inside and out

I love the gathered sleeves and the way they transform a normal dress into something more fancy. I wore it to my friends' wedding - and got the colour spot on - green for IRISH!

The left hand side of the top of the zip is a little bit wonky but other than that (and the fact that the bodice is a bit tight) I absolutely love it. Next time, I'll make the full skirted Cambie in a slightly larger size and maybe raise neckline just a wee bit. But I know one thing for certain - I will definitely be making more versions of this dress!

On a slightly different note, how exciting was the Great British Sewing Bee?! The only thing I don't like about this program is the name - it should have been called the Great British Sew Off! I already have my faves - Lauren, who lives near me and is about to open a haberdashery and fabric store, Sandra who works in the same hospital as me (eek!), celebrity blogstar Tilly and Ann, who is also from Birmingham and is just the most brilliantly unflappable person on the show! Oh, do you notice a theme? All my faves (bar Tilly, but I'll forgive her) are from in and around Brum - we are obviously the best crafting city.....

And oh. my. god. Patrick.

Hello, tailor!