Cambie for a ceilidh

Pattern: Cambie from Sewaholic
Size: 10
Fabric: Border print viscose from Minerva Crafts

I've had a bee in my bonnet about wanting to make something yellow, even though it doesn't really suit me, being so pale and all. When I saw this fabric there was no way I could resist so I just grabbed a couple of metres and figured I'd decide what to do with it later. It's a viscose with a double border of yellow appliqued flowers. Divine!! I lined it in a lightweight, white cotton.

My cousin very kindly invited us to a handfasting ceremony to celebrate her recent marriage to her lovely partner and of course I needed no persuasion to make a new dress for the occasion and thought the aforementioned fabric would be a nice, summery choice.

Of course the border is the star of the show so I wanted to make something with a big skirt to show it off.

Most full skirts, however, are bias cut to an extent and therefore wouldn't work with the border. Whilst deliberating how to deal with this, I, for some reason, was looking at the Cambie pattern and my heart skipped a beat when I realised the skirt is just a straight-cut rectangle. Hurrah!! A great reason to make my first Cambie, as well, as I've long admired all the other versions out there.

The pattern is glorious, of course, like all Sewaholic patterns. It's the first dress I've made and whilst I'm well aware that I'm a size 10 in these patterns, I had a mental breakdown and made an 8. Bad move. I could barely breathe even standing up! I had one of my characteristic "things have gone wrong in sewing land" strops, then calmed down and just ordered more fabric to remake the bodice in a size 10. Luckily the skirt is so gathered that I could just use the same pieces and let the gathers out slightly. And it fits brilliantly. Even, it turns out, after I've eaten my body weight in yummy celebration food.

I loved wearing it, it kept me cool in the sunshine, stood up to some rigorous ceilidh testing, and hadn't creased up by the end of the night. The beautiful brides had photos taken at the nearby abbey so after those we snuck off and got some snaps of the dress to take advantage of the glorious backdrop.

Just sitting around looking wistful

Some very old tiles

This dress stands up to ceilidh-ing, AND hugging.