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Ogden Cami - Midi dress hack by Laura

Hi everyone! Laura of @cottonreelstudio here sharing my latest make for the Lamazi blog. 

FABRIC

I was interested in using one of the new designs from Mind the Maker called splash they are such beautiful and vibrant prints! This particular design (and I believe all future designs and any re-prints) has been printed on a substrate called Lenzing™️ Ecovero™️  viscose. The manufacturing processes used in producing this substrate uses less water and produces lower emissions. Plus the supply chain is more transparent and the wood and pulp used in the production of the fibres is from more sustainable sources. All of these things are very attractive to me as a person who tries hard to consume less. 

After much deliberation I decided on the mint colour and was thrilled when it arrived. The colours are just stunning and the splashes are beautiful and vibrant. This fabric is a slightly heavier weight viscose twill and has a very good opacity.  I pre-washed at 30°C in the washing machine as usual and the fabric and colours remained in good condition. 


DESIGN


If you know me at all you will know that when the summer months come around I make all the dresses…. This time is no different, however I wanted to make something simple that I can throw on and feel put together without much effort. I was also keen to keep the dress design simple to allow the print to be shown off.


I decided to go with a hack of the ever popular Ogden Cami. The plan was to cut the cami at the waist, add a simple gathered skirt panel and a ruffle at the bottom.  also decided to make tie straps so that they would be easy to adjust if they stretched out.   

For the bodice I already had a size 8 cut out from previous makes, so simply reduced the front and back pieces by 18cm , I also tapered the side seams in by 2cm (with hindsight I could have taken in and off a bit more). I also decided to fully line the bodice with some mint coloured viscose challis I happened to have in my stash. I do like using plain viscose challis for lining a bodice. I also cut 4 strap pieces 30cm long.

For the large skit panel I cut a large rectangle the full width of the fabric at 65cm long. I cut two rectangles, the full width of the fabric at 35cm long for the bottom ruffle. 

All of these pattern pieces fit nicely on 2m of this fabric.


SEWING


With all my pattern pieces cut, I was ready to sew! 

As this fabric has a twill weave on it, I wanted to make sure I took care when using it to make sure it didn’t get damaged. To do this I made sure to use a microtex size 70 needle on my machine and used clips as much as possible and where I needed to use pins I used my sharpest and finest pins (it’s worth investing in good quality pin in my opinion).  

Another thing to consider before starting to sew is, if you are using an overlocker, when was the last time you changed your needle? I have a confession….. In the first three years of owning my overlocker I never changed the needle! Nowadays I am much more careful and change them regularly.


The fabric was very easy to sew in comparison to something like a viscose crepe or chalis as it is slightly thicker and heavier in weight. It was quite stable as it moved through the machine. I was impressed with how the fabric fared through my sewing machine. I was expecting it to be more difficult as I was using my very old mechanical sewing machine (not the fancy new one I have as it was being serviced). 

VERDICT

I am quite pleased with how this dress has turned out. With hindsight, I could have raised the waistline and brought it in a bit more. I might still do that, but for now I like the easy style hides all the extra lockdown pounds!

The fabric is beautiful and the style of the dress I chose to make makes me feel like I should be downing cocktails on a beach in Ibiza. Not posing on a bridge in Stockton but there is always hope for 2021 right? 




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