The True Bias Ogden Cami in gingham seersucker

By

Are you thinking ‘here we go… yet ANOTHER person rabbiting on about that camisole pattern? Yes? If so I fully admit to knowing where you're coming from. The True Bias Ogden Cami must be be one of the most sewn patterns in the indie pattern/Instagram/sewing/blogging world since it was released back in 2016. It’s been almost impossible to scroll through ones Instagram feed without seeing another version of it sewn as is, lengthened into a dress, turned into PJs or otherwise customised. Not being much of a camisole person myself, I guiltily admit to having glazed over now and again when it has come to all this cami-love.
So. You know where this is going, right?

the front!
Lots has been said about this pattern, so I’ll keep it brief. It really is a good one, and now I see what the fuss has been about. It’s a simple garment, but those basics are sometimes challenging to get just right. It’s true - the Ogden is nicely drafted, comes together in a jiffy and the fit and shaping are spot on. There’s a good size range too (81.5-113cm bust measurement), plus there's also a mini/kids version available as a PDF from the True Bias website.

the back!

Considering the broad size range, I thought this would be a good one for my 14 year old daughter. At first she didn’t seem very excited about the pattern but chose this Japanese cotton gingham seersucker. I thought I’d just sew it up in her size and offer it to her, then use it as a shop sample if she didn’t want it. But, after getting her to try it on before hemming she declared it “legit” and nicely asked if it might be ready for her to wear for school casual clothes day later in the week. Win!

inside!
Construction
The Ogden has a half-lining/facing whereby the strap ends are fastened and enclosed between each layer, so the inside finish is nice and neat. With precious few pattern pieces here (front, back, lining front and back plus straps), and nothing tricky to sew, I think this would be an absolutely sterling gateway drug for a beginner garment sewer. Ideal for teens! I have been trying to make non-bossy suggestive noises about how great this would look in other colours to try to entice mine into letting me help her sew her own Ogden next time.

Adjustments
Sewn as per the pattern, but shortened by about 4-5cm and hemmed straight as per the request of the recipient. There’s a gentle shirt tail hem in the pattern, which is lovely too.

Fabric
This seersucker has less drape than the pattern asks for, but we both liked the boxy shape we ended up with. The Ogden would also be lovely in washed linen, liberty lawn, a polished cotton like this Nan Iro or one of our new cotton/silk blends.



The Ogden has recently been introduced to print and we have copies in the shop, and online here.


- Fiona & Jane

Comments

Post a Comment

We love to know who's reading and what you think so please leave us a comment! We'll also try to answer any questions you may have.

Popular posts from this blog

Care of your Boiled Wool

By
Image
We have some lovely 100% boiled wools at The Drapery for this first time this year. The care of these fabrics was a bit of a mystery to us as well as to you, so we've done some investigation. Will my boiled wool shrink if I wash it at home? More than likely, yes. That surprised us, too. One would guess since the fabric is called 'boiled wool' and has a felted, non-fray texture, that it is pre-shrunk and would not shrink further. Not so - please be well aware! Here's what we found: We tried three kinds of gentle washing: - Front loading machine wash 'wool cycle', 30 degrees , with wool wash liquid, rinse, spin. - Gentle hand wash, warm , with wool wash liquid, rinse, press dry in a towel. - Front loading machine wash 'wool cycle' cold , with wool wash liquid, rinse, spin. In both warm washes (machine and hand) the wool experienced 10 - 15% shrinkage in length. There was little to no shrinkage in width. The cold wash showed sligh...
Read more

Boiled Wool Shrug - free tutorial

By
Image
We have some luscious boiled wools in stock at The Drapery right now, and have put together a free tutorial for possibly the easiest garment you'll ever make! Searching for boiled wool inspiration, we came across this simple and lovely shrug by Manda of Treefall Design, who was inspired by a ready-to-wear piece. We whipped up a couple of prototypes in the shop and arrived at this which takes just a 75cm cut of fabric and three straight seams. Edges can all be left raw because boiled wool does not fray! REQUIREMENTS 75cm x boiled wool , ours is 150cm wide - would also work in wool knit fabric such as this Japanese wool blend (or this one ) and this Merino Rib Gutermann Sew-All thread in matching colour Cut about 50 - 55cm in from each selvedge so you have 2 pieces approx. 50 x 75cm, each with a 75cm fluffy selvedge. The piece from the middle is spare so you can use it for another project, or perhaps to embellish your shrug. Pin your pieces together along th...
Read more

Pattern freebie: mini dachshund jacket

By
Image
** ETA Dec 2020: Sorry! Due to technical issues (a broken laptop where the pattern was stored) this pattern is no longer available. You can use the illustrations of the pattern pieces below as guide by taking the measurement of the length of your dog's back to correspond to the length of the jacket body along the fold line. Alternatively, we recommend you try the new free dog jacket pattern by Closet Case here .  When we published a photo on Instagram of one of our dogs (wee Lola, above) wearing a jacket made from the scraps from one of our projects recently, we had a few requests to share the pattern. So here it is! A quick guide to how I make a my dog jackets. This is a super simple pattern that is easily adaptable to the size of your dog. But please note that the straps are short and the body long on this pattern to fit the long n’ low dachshund in particular as most jackets are too short for their gorgeous sausagey bodies.  Pattern pieces are below in JPG forma...
Read more