I saw this dress on Instagram and was intrigued so I hopped over to the Cashmerette website and to my surprise it wasn’t available to the general public. Hoity Toity! I couldn’t believe it!
I looked into this so called “Cashmerette Club” and was very pleased to see that it was not only very affordable – $10 for 1 pattern a month – but also came with sew alongs for each pattern. This isn’t meant to be an advertisement so I will let you hop on over and check it for yourself. Cashmerette Club
The dress is a V-neck pullover dress, with no buttonholes (just buttons) It has grown on sleeves and a shirred waistband.
From the line drawings, it seems simple to whip up in an afternoon. It wasn’t. There were many steps!
You will be constructing the front and back pieces seperately and then connecting them at the shoulders in order to sew the neckline.
Then you gather the skirt pieces so they fit the waist bands (front and back). Then you shirr the front and back waistbands individually.
Shirring Tip
Now, shirring settings are going to vary per machine, but there was one universal tip that I wanted to share. Make sure that the elastic thread is set into your bobbin case just right! I use a Project Runway Brother Serger, and I actually had to remove the bobbin case and hand thread the elastic so it sets in the little slot and then put it back in – a tricky endeavor – and then pull it through as usual.
That process takes time and I ended up loading the bobbin 4 times for each side.
Fabric Handling
You will end up shoving the bulk of the dress through your sewing machine and just handling the fabric quite a bit so if you are using a challis or something that frays easily, I recommend you finish the side seams before you shirr.
Sizing
I used the size 18 with C/D cup for the top. First I had compared the C/D with the E/F pattern piece and there is just about a half inch difference at the bottom. I didn’t think that would matter much so I erred on the smaller size and I am glad I did. There is a lot of ease in upper bust area but as this is meant to be a summer breezy dress, I wasn’t mad at it.
Be warned the skirt is very full as I tapered down to a size 16 in the waist and the fabric doesn’t even touch me below the waist, which feels marvelous!
Overall Opinion
For me this will be the perfect dress to do house chores and pop on when I get overheated from doing outside chores. I don’t think I would wear this to run errands. It’s definitely a festival, farmers market kind of vibe
But you know if you sewed it in a lovely challis and lengthened the skirt to a maxi it could be another vibe entirely!
Hmmm…
That’s intriguing…
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