Camas in Marsala (and a nice GSM)

As soon as I had made my trial run of the Thread Theory Camas blouse I was on the hunt for the right fabric for the next one. I was imagining a kind of metallic, bronze (that would be brown, right! :) ) knit, but couldn't find such a fabric. What I did find was accidently on trend, so here I am in something very close to Pantone's colour of 2015: Marsala

The temptation to do something different with the yokes of the blouse is very strong, and I really like this one with sequins, turning it into evening wear. I wanted one a bit more dressy than my cotton interlock, but I didn't want to limit its usefulness for everyday wear. Obviously, it's a pattern to make over and over again!

 

 

The fabric I found is a 4 way stretch matte knit (rayon/lycra?) that almost feels like it could be used for swimwear (with some lining!). It's very comfortable and slinky to wear and nice and cool in the crazy weather we've been having lately.

 

Feeling a bit awkward, as always, posing for photos I decided the sun must be over the yardarm somewhere and cracked open a Grenache Shiraz Mataro. Perfect as a prop (literally and figuratively!) and I thought it would co-ordinate nicely with my top!

 

 



I dropped down one size from my first Camas blouse, so this one is a size 12, and I added 1 inch of length at the waist. The rest is as per the pattern. I like the curve as it kicks out over my hips, but if you're a bit straighter in the torso, or simply don't have a wide arse as I've been proven to have, you may want to shave a bit of width off at the bottom.



OK, let the posing continue...

 



I interfaced both the outer yokes and the yoke linings, so the shoulder sections are pretty stable. The blouse is slinky but not feeling like it's going to stretch out of shape and slip off my shoulders. That's extra important when you're rocking that plunging neckline! The pattern gives some very detailed finished measurements, so if, unlike me, you know how to interpret them, you could tell whether you'd be happy with how low the front may go.

 

 



There are just two points I'd make about the construction: Firstly, you really do have to sew the long, outer curve of the placket to the shirt. It does not seem to want to go that way and it's one of those awkward opposing curve moments in sewing. It would be very easy to do it the wrong way, but then you'll end up with a placket that sticks up at the back a bit like a Mandarin collar. Pay attention.

 

Secondly, there is a slightly misleading diagram regarding stitching down the placket. The written instruction says to topstitch near the placket/shirt seam, but the diagram appears to show topstitching closer to the placket edge. I did my first one as per the picture and while it looks fine, it is possible to peek under the placket on the inside and see the seam allowances in there.

 

I'm blaming the slippery fabric, but my placket was not looking all that even in width on this one, and I thought topstitching would only make it look worse. I ended up stitching in the ditch of the placket/shirt seam in order to stitch the placket down. I think that's a nice solution for a more formal version of the Camas.

 

 



These buttons seemed just perfect! I did do functioning buttonholes again, but I haven't ever undone any of them. There's no need for operational buttons, so don't let your sewing machines temperament with knit fabrics put you off the pattern.
Edit: I forgot to mention, Morgan has done a great blog post here showing how to use Tear Away Stabiliser to sew buttonholes onto delicate fabrics.

Thanks again to Thread Theory for giving me a copy of the camas blouse to sew.

Thanks also to my parents for their wonderful dining room backdrop, and my brother who stood in as lighting test subject and then took these pictures for me.

The best finish to a blog post involves small photobombers, so here's my brother dealing with photobombers as only he could!