Finished: The Pink Elephants on Parade Cambie Dress

This post should be titled : Look, I finally made something! I'm terrible at this blogging thing, since this is the first garment I've made since Vincent was born- seventh months ago. I've had a major loss of motivation to sew anything for myself since I've been trying to lose the  baby weight and I *really* hate alterations. Then entered Sew Dolly Clackett and it was too awesome to pass up. There are only a handful of bloggers I can honestly say I would wear everything they make, and Roisin from Dolly Clackett is definitely one of them. 

I've been lusting after this dress from Bernie Dexter for the longest time and when I found the fabric I promptly bought 4 yards. There are drunk pink elephants on a charcoal background and polka dots, so I probably would have spent my grocery money on this fabric if I had to. I decided to pair it with the Sewaholic Cambie dress. It's not an exact match but it's close enough to make me happy. Plus I've been wanting to make this pattern up for ages.

I'd been wearing it all day at this point so it's a little wrinkly!

I absolutely love this dress and I have a feeling this is going to be one of my go to patterns in the future. The directions were clear and the way the dress is lined makes for a professional finished product. It's lined in a light pink cotton batiste and I almost want to wear this inside out. 

I made a size 12 graded to a 16 at the waist, and the only changes I made were doing a 1" FBA (which added a bust dart) and changing the invisible zip to a hand picked lapped zipper. I'm really happy with the fit and I'm glad I took the time to muslin it and fix the full bust issues I was having. The only changes I might make in the future are to pull in the waist darts a little under the bust, try the invisible zipper method.and use the skirt lining pieces from view A. I had a few issues with catching the waistband in the skirt, so my gathers aren't as even as I'd like, but overall I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

I'm really glad I took a chance and entered this contest, because now I have an awesome dress and the return of my sewing mojo! Hopefully it won't be another seven months for another post this time.