The Sewaholic Cambie Dress was one of my first forays into the world of indie pattern sewing. I made 2 iterations, which have both been donated by now because although they were much loved, they were a little too tight in the armpit area and… who am I kidding… the waist, too! So I’ve been eating a few more chocolates than usual, so what? :-p
Even though the full Cambie wasn’t perfect for me, I still found ways to incorporate what I loved about the pattern into other dresses. The skirt portion of View A is very flattering for those of us with a little extra junk in the trunk and I Frankenpatterned it into my spring dress and cat lady boss dress:
I’ve been thinking of making just the skirt by itself for some time and finally got around to it.
They may not be as fancy as when they’re attached to my dresses, but they sure do fill the hole in my wardrobe for boring-yet-proper office attire. Plus I love how well they go with my Melilot shirt. There are definitely more of those on the horizon…
The gray skirt is actually from the same fabric as my gray Cambie dress. I had juuuust enough to squeeze out a skirt, yay!
The brown skirt is kind of a freebie. The fabric was a hand-me-down from my friend who was clearing out her fabric stash. Huzzah for sewing friends!
Both skirts were sewn in a size 12 but I took in the back seam by 1 inch to get it fitted higher on my waist. I guess I could have gone with a size 10, oh well.
I lined both with Bemberg rayon (off-white for the brown skirt and black for the gray skirt). If you’ve never worn Bemberg rayon before, you’re missing out! It’s the best fabric for lining since it’s breathable and oh-so-smooth. It’s a little slinky so it can be a beast to cut and sew, but who cares if it’s super pretty because it’s hidden. 😉
Here’s a 360-degree view of the fit:
I think it could definitely be a little tighter around the waist to help prevent it from dipping forward like it is in the second photo. Otherwise, it’s spot on!
I am super excited about my new skirts and they have already withstood the test of long days in the office.
Gotta love being able to pick and choose what parts of sewing patterns work best for you! Have you done anything similar?
-RED
Sew RED-y 
Nice work! I’ve done the sewaholic Hollyburn a few times. I like her patterns. I quite often use a tracing of a much loved pattern for a different pattern just to avoid tracing the new piece. I don’t need two tracings of the same style skirt bottom! Does that count?
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Haha! That’s a really good idea. I can’t count how much time I’ve probably wasted tracing very similar pattern pieces over and over again. I’ve heard really good things about the Hollyburn – Sewaholic has some great patterns!
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Despite being a lollipop, rather than the triangle the cambie is drafted for I got it to work for me (I had to do an FBA with 3 darts, and grade from 10 top to 4 bottom). It was uncomfortably tight under my arms too, but I assumed it was from the FBA. To fix I scooped a lot out under the arm, and after the stitching tore out where the straps were attached to the front, I gathered the strap more to move it away from the arm when I resewed it.
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Wow, that’s dedication to make all of those changes! Thanks for sharing as I’ll be using your guidance if I want to revisit the Cambie bodice again. 😀
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Those fit your reverse side so well! ^^ Paired with the Melilot, it’s got a subtle vintage vibe…a little forties, maybe?
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LOL, thank you! It’s making me wonder if the Sewaholic Thurlow Trousers will make the same booty magic. 😉
I’m totally seeing the vintage vibe now, cool! ❤
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