I spotted this leaf print viscose challis at Minerva Crafts a while ago, and thought it was a bargain at £2.99 a metre. There are a few colour options to choose from, but I really liked the muted colours of the tan colourway, and when it arrived I wasn’t disappointed. The fabric is so soft and fluid, but surprisingly easy to work with too. I thought that I would make a lovely wedding outfit given that I had a few more to attend this year and I wasn’t wrong!
One problem with sewing for weddings is that I rarely need to get dressed up like that in everyday life, and it does seem a waste to make something beautiful only to wear it for special occasions. With that in mind, I decided to make a coordinating skirt and top so that I would have more opportunities to wear them apart as well as together. This might have been partially inspired by other bloggers, and in particular Becca from Red W Sews who also used the ogden cami to make a ‘fake dress’. It was actually this that convinced me to buy the pattern, and I’m glad I did because it is so simple and elegant.
So with the top decided, I just needed to work out a skirt. I fancied something midi length, which isn’t a length that I usually go for, but I thought for a wedding and with heels it should look a bit more classy. The skirt didn’t need to be anything complicated so I decided to draft one myself (not entirely successfully) from basic measurements. I did find a couple of blogs that helped me out, most notably sewVeraVenus for drafting the skirt and Andrea at The Butchers Block for working out how I could have both a side seam zip and pockets!
Somehow, once I had sewn the zip in and tried the skirt on, it was just far too big. Being the lazy sewist that I am, I didn’t really want to reset the zip, so I decided to take out a full pleat from the opposite side seam. I just unpicked a little bit of the waistband facing, took the side seam in, and sewed the facing back down. Amazingly, despite taking a full 10cm out of the waist, it is still a little big so I don’t think much of my maths. Either that, or the fabric stretched out a lot more than expected while sewing in the pleats.
Because these box pleats use a lot of fabric (3 times the waist measurement) this is a lovely full and swooshy skirt. There is enough weight to it for it to flow nicely, and because it is just a big rectangle , I had plenty of fabric to give it a deep hem. Sadly, though the wedding venue had beautiful grounds it rained all afternoon, so we had to sneak out and find a little shelter to take these photos.
Having tested it out together at the wedding, it seemed only right to give the top an outing by itself on the way home. We stopped off at Croome on the way home, a National Trust property with a really interesting mixed history. It has a massive grounds and parkland, but was also a ‘secret’ RAF base during the 2nd world war and was instrumental in developing RADAR.
It was a lovely spot for a walk around and a break from motorway driving. And my Ogden cami was comfortable and stylish for a Sunday afternoon stroll. I can see it getting plenty of use for a semi-dressed up look this autumn.
Naomi Sews 
Your top and skirt (fake dress) are very pretty. That certainly makes the outfit more useable when you can mix and match with other pieces! The photos are lovely too.
LikeLike