Hey, remember me?

So, howdy, long time no see!   The last few months have been busy ones at Casa Invisible ... mainly because said casa has moved about 30 or so miles west since I last posted.   Before I lived in the middle of Houston: now I'm on the very far western edge in the city of Katy.   Though Houston has grown out to meet Katy, the "old town" portion where we live retains its small-town feel. As we decided to move, we wondered if we'd miss the neighborhood we'd lived in for 18 years, where we were within walking distance of museums, universities, the zoo, restaurants and one of the city's biggest parks.   But Katy felt like home right away, and we love the change of pace.  We've already been to a local crafts fair, and the antiques stores in "downtown" Katy actually have great finds in them ... one of which came home with me and is now (hint, hint) getting a tune-up at the local sewing machine center -- didn't have one of those in the old 'hood!

Aaaaaanyhow, let's talk about sewing.  I finished one dress before I moved that I didn't get around to blogging about:  a run at the Sewaholic Cambie.   This is up there with the Renfrew as one of my favorite patterns, but I didn't love my first rendition due to fit issues and the fact that I kept botching things.   It looks better in photos than it does in real life.

Pear fabric for a dress meant for a pear shape ...
hey, I thought it was a tiny bit witty!

It came out a bit tight in the waistband and loose in the bodice.   It also helped me come to the conclusion that a lot of gathering that starts at the natural waist is not the best look for me.  I picked photos where it wasn't so bad, but trust me on this!

Did you notice my little adaptation of the bodice?  It was coming out too short so I improvised:

This might have worked out pretty well if I had only used some interfacing on that wimpy yellow lawn!  As-is, it doesn't have enough heft and you can see my chalk markings that I couldn't get off.  A good scrubbing might help with that, but eh, this dress ain't worth it.  

In case anyone else needs to make an eleventh-hour alteration to their Cambie, here's what my swiftly-drafted pattern piece for the extension looks like:

Eek, an eyebrow!

I just left openings for the straps on the top edge of the "eyebrow" as you would at the bodice edge, and then sewed the bottom edges into the top edges of the bodice.  I ended up  doing a little stitching in the center front to encourage the eyebrows to curve in a bit, but basically they worked, except for the lack of interfacing.  Maybe I'll even try it again on purpose someday ... jury's still out on that.

Unfortunately, there are enough strikes against this dress that it'll never, ever get worn.  It's now in the Goodwill box awaiting its fate.   However, there is a happy ending to this story:  I cut out a second Cambie with the alterations I needed and the a-line version of the skirt before I moved, and now I've finally got it sewed up.  Cambie #2 learned from the woes of Original Cambie, and fulfills the potential I knew the pattern had.  I'll show you that one soon!