Charlie Caftan Revisited

 Happy Sunday all

This is a very old pattern and one that I made a version of back in 2017....and then never again. For no particular reason. Wow those years fly by.  😧

The wonderful Closet Core Patterns always seems to have something that fits the bill just when you need it. The Charlie Caftan is no exception especially when we had the mega hot weather. This pattern is the perfect waft-about-look-quite-stylish dress for when you don't want a great deal touching your skin.

There are three versions to this pattern - a Mini Folded, a Mini Gathered and a Maxi Gathered - so obviously I ignored that and made a Midi.

To be fair the reason I have a Midi version is because I only had 2m of fabric or else it definitely would be maxi. That being said I think this version is probably more wearable. I extended the 'mini' pattern pieces to fit 1m front and 1m back. The facings, pockets and ties were all cut out of the wastage from the sides. There was only a tiny pile of scraps left after cutting this which felt very satisfying!

The fabric is some very vibrant and summery viscose crepe from Fabric Godmother called 'Sandy'. Not a hugely inspiring name but a very loud print!

I no longer resemble the same human as 2017 therefore I reprinted and recut the pattern, this time opting for the gathered front version of View B rather than the 'foldy-origami' of View A. This is a size 16/18 as per the chart. 

The reason I think this pattern may get a bit overlooked is because of the waist panel insert which can be quite complicated to do. It is inserted without any waist or side seams so you have to pivot and match points exactly, then hand stitch or match the other side internally. 

Forget it. Why make life difficult. I chopped by pattern straight across at the waist where the line indicated the gathers would be. I cut 2 placket rectangles, stitched them together to form a strip, then top-stitched that bad boy right on there, trapping the waist ties underneath. Minimal fuss, pretty much exactly the same effect.  

After completing the dress - which did not take long on account of it being only 3 main pieces thanks to my panel hack -  I found the deep neck looked a bit daft so I took that in. I simply just nipped the centre front seam in to where it felt comfortable and stitched a line in a wedge shape down to the waist. 

I like the position of the panel and waist ties, they nip the dress it at my natural waist (whatever is left of it) and create a really easy to wear garment.  

I wore the dress for the whole day that I made it, but in true British fashion the sun disappeared so it is still waiting for another trip out! Definitely a keeper though. 

 

Let me know - are you still sewing for summer or is it getting a little close to those cooler months? September is usually lovely so I'm hedging my bets on more fun dresses before then!

 

Wishing everyone well and thank you for stopping by - feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bloglovin too xxx