(Pattern bought with my own money; 100% honest opinion as always.)
I love a wrap dress. I always have; there’s something about the simplicity of it that I really love, whilst also being a genius bit of engineering. The lack of fastenings like a zip or button also make wrap dresses fantastic if your measurements are prone to fluctuation and (for me) result in a more accessible garment. I also love how a wrap neckline looks on me – I feel confident and body positive in them.
I made the BHL Hannah last year and then redid the bodice when I wasn’t happy with the initial fit. A short while after redoing the bodice, I realised I still wasn’t happy with the fit; primarily because I had enough gaping that I had to wear a cami top underneath, and also because it felt overfitted in the shoulders and upper back.
My general experience with indie patterns is that my body doesn’t always suit their block, so I will often look to take pattern pieces from patterns that better fit my body to recreate the look. A good example is my experience with the Tilly and the Buttons Indigo, where I had so many issues with the bodice that, after eight toiles, I gave up and used a Cashmerette bodice instead (which took one toile). So when Cashmerette announced the Roseclair, I was extremely keen to try it and see whether it worked better for my body.
And it did! I used their size calculator as always, and made an initial cotton toile on the recommended size (22 G/H with a 1″ FBA, graded to a 26 at the waist and hip). Based on that toile I moved the darts to match my apex, and made a wearable toile in double gauze. I haven’t provided photos of the double gauze version because, yet again, crinkly double gauze bested me and the garment has grown about 3 sizes through wear. I’ve made some basic alterations to make it more wearable, but it’s a house dress for now (although I hope to redo the bodice so it can be a final garment).
The pattern is, as Cashmerette patterns usually are in my experience, well drafted and with good instructions. It fits me far better than the BHL Hannah with minimal alterations, and I may compare pattern pieces to look at why that is and understand more about plus drafting. It has more coverage and the neckline was less prone to gaping, although after my double gauze toile I did remove a further 4cm from the neckline to reduce gape. This is because the waist was sitting at my underbust (my narrowest point) and therefore it needed shortening. If my natural waist was my narrowest point, I think it would have sat perfectly.
The pattern uses bias binding on the neckline and this extends into two of the ties, which is a nice touch. I originally intended to use self-fabric but was tight for time and the size of the strips in the pattern were too narrow for my bias making machine and I couldn’t be bothered to manually make the bias, so I next day-ordered some tangerine bias binding that turned out to be a great match. This did mean I’d already attached the ties in the bodice side seam in self fabric, whilst the neckline ties were in tangerine satin, but I don’t think it’s too awkward. Everything was extremely straightforward; the only change I would make to the pattern instructions would be to sew the cuff closed closer to the seam line so it’s less obvious.
My fabric was a polyester satin from Rainbow Fabrics and is deadstock River Island. As soon as I saw the fabric on their site I jumped and ordered 5m, as I wasn’t sure what I wanted to make, but knew I wanted something special to show off the gorgeous pattern.
I tried to do a decent finish on this dress, within reason – I was sewing it until 2.30am on the day that we were due to go away for a family birthday (to which I intended to wear the dress), so some bits are a bit shoddy, like the hem, which I intend to redo with a rolled hem rather than a folded hem. I did, however, French seam everything but the armholes and waist seam, which I bound in the tangerine satin bias binding for a luxurious finish.
I wore this dress for two special occasions and felt fantastic in it. I also received my first ever compliments from two strangers in the street, who said they loved it, which absolutely made my night!
Conclusion: excellent pattern, will make again for sure (I have more planned – including MORE double gauze).
Sew Pippa 