Monday, September 9, 2013

Cambie Dress in Ombre. And Tie Dye.

This dress started out as diaper linen last year. I bought a 20 yard roll from Fabric-store.com and used about half to make diapers. The rest has been used for many various things. Linings, caps, undershirts and the like. Last winter, in boredom, I dyed a 5 yard piece bright kelley green. And I never did anything with it.

Over the summer I thought it would be nice to make that bright kelley green linen into a Cambie dress. I procrastinated (as usual) and finally by the time I cut into the fabric to sew up my new gown I found out I am pregnant. 

I decided to make it anyway. To accommodate a growing bump I shortened the waistline by 2". This should fit well enough until winter, and I probably will not wear the dress again til next spring. And by then, the baby will be here. 

There was just one problem with the dress. (well, actually, there were several problems. I had to pretty much take the whole dress apart and refit it and resew it but we shall not speak of that.) The problem? The color. Bright green just doesn't do it for me. 

I got a box of dye remover and removed as much of the dye as possible. It didn't all quite come out but the dress was a much nicer color of pale green. After experimenting with ombre dying my gauze dress in the post previous, I bought a little jug of dark green dye and another of denim blue dye. 

On a whim, I decided to tie dye. I was in a slightly rebellious mood. And I wanted something very unique. I rubber-banded the heck of out of the dress in parallel rows top to bottom and began to dip it in the dye. This time, I dipped the entire garment first and then slowly raised it from the dye, and added more dye as time went on so that the bottom would be much darker than the top. 

After it had sat in the dye about a half hour I rinsed it in the shower and popped it in the wash machine, still rubber-banded. After the final rinse I snipped off the bands and voila, there was my dress. I love it!

It has a pale green undertone and the rubber banded stripes are that pale green. Then there are shades of teal and blue and green and grey. . .just the colors I like. 

There is plenty of room below the raised waist for growing Baby. It is a very comfortable style. The bodice is still a bit loose, so, thus far, I like to wear belts with it. For the pictures Judah took for me today I wore my very versatile black velveteen swiss waist snitched from my 1860's wardrobe. I was going for an 1860's-ish vibe with the dress anyhow; with full box pleated skirts and the dart fitted bodice and the visual dropped shoulder due to the cut of the sleeves. And black goes with anything. 

I wore this dress yesterday with a slightly less obnoxious belt; a simple leather one that ties round the waist. I like both looks and will experiment with more. And of course, it can be worn belt-less, too, as Baby grows.

We took the above photo at a cemetery we visited. Baby Anne toddled around, touching the rough stones, tracing the letters, looking at them curiously. 

She was not afraid. It is not a resting place of the dead so much as it is a remembrance of the living. We like cemeteries. There is so much to learn. There are so many feelings. 

Love,
Sarah

5 comments:

  1. CUTE! so nice! I bet it's very comfortable for pregnancy! I love that last pic of little Anne! So adorable. :)

    God Bless!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such a unique Cambie, and I like it that way! Also, totally am right there with you about starting to sew cute figure flattering clothes only to find out you're pregnant and that the next year and half must be either roomy and big or easy access for feeding. Keeps happening to me, too, lol. And your daughter is so cute!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love this dress!! Where did you get the pattern? Or, did you make your own pattern? I want to make one too!

    And, a very big congratulations on the new baby!! 5 children, wow! And here I feel busy enough with one, my hat is off to you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Emily, thanks! The real Cambie dress pattern is one you can get from Sewaholic patterns - they have some beautiful styles!

    This particular dress pattern I draped back in May, as a knock off of the Cambie style (I was too cheap to buy the pattern). I really like it, especially the way the sleeves/shoulders are done. It's a really flattering style.

    I can hardly believe this is #5, too - I had felt that right now 4 was the very limit of my abilities since they require almost constant attention and work at their current ages. I was just starting to feel I was catching up on the sleep I've lost since Anne was born! lol

    But I felt that with 1, too, and then 2, and then 3. . .so, the baby will fit in somehow, somewhere. ;) I don't know how, but God will make it work in His way.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very lovely! And congratulations on number five, I was so excited when I read that. I have been following your blog for a long time now, and I just love it. I recently started a blog myself, and I would be honored if you would take a look at it.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your lovely thoughts!