Note: I received the Camas Blouse for free to review and the Fantasia fabric as a gift from Sara Lawson, the designer. All opinions are my own :)
Sara Lawson recently offered to send out some of her new line Fantasia (for Art Gallery Fabrics), It seemed from her email that she really just wanted to get the fabric out there and experience the joy of seeing what people made with the fabric, so she cut it all up and sent it out to people who were happy to make something over the next few weeks. I put my hand up for some of the knits and she sent me a couple of yards of the Kokka Sprites (Teal) knit:
I have to confess, I am not usually drawn to patterns, particularly larger scale ones (the sprites are probably about 6 inches tall, for reference). I don't dislike them, I just never feel I know what to do with them or how to wear them.
I would have picked this, given the choice - which is about as close to a non-pattern print as you can get!!!
Happily for me, Sara had Sprites left and sent me the teal ones. When they arrived I was so pleased she had - the teal colour is beautiful and the little accents of mustard and greyish greens in the fabric are gorgeous (web colour rendering does not do this fabric justice!).
I used the fabric to make another Camas:
I used the Sprites as the main fabric, with a very light chambray as the yoke area.
The first time I made the Camas, I added a strip into the side seam as a "design feature". I think it turned out pretty awesome (the strip was sequins, so it's hard to fault!) but I really needed to have done an FBA on the blouse. This time, I did a proper FBA using this tutorial from Jennifer Lauren Vintage. This tutorial is amazing - I have only ever done an FBA where you introduce a dart, or an FBA on a shirt which already has a side dart. In this tutorial you do a normal (dart-inducing) FBA, then rotate that dart out. I just worked through the steps and aside from some nerves about how much the pattern piece had to be hacked and taped, it was clear and easy to do. It's my new go-to instruction set for this adjustment.
Aside from my awkward arm placement adding a crease where there isn't one, this blouse is perfect. The fabric is bright and the pattern is pattern-y but as a print-o-phobe I don't feel odd wearing it. The fabric is also extremely soft and has a good amount of spandex in, which is crucial for good recovery. I had been wearing this top all day by the time we took these pictures and it retained it's shape very well.
I don't think this will be my last Camas, especially with the new adjustment for a dartless FBA. Similarly I have some of the fabric left, so my daughter might get lucky and have a new skirt in the near future. She LOVES the idea of matching outfits (heaven help me!) so there might be a "Mummy and Me" feature in the near future...!
Sara Lawson recently offered to send out some of her new line Fantasia (for Art Gallery Fabrics), It seemed from her email that she really just wanted to get the fabric out there and experience the joy of seeing what people made with the fabric, so she cut it all up and sent it out to people who were happy to make something over the next few weeks. I put my hand up for some of the knits and she sent me a couple of yards of the Kokka Sprites (Teal) knit:
I have to confess, I am not usually drawn to patterns, particularly larger scale ones (the sprites are probably about 6 inches tall, for reference). I don't dislike them, I just never feel I know what to do with them or how to wear them.
I would have picked this, given the choice - which is about as close to a non-pattern print as you can get!!!
Happily for me, Sara had Sprites left and sent me the teal ones. When they arrived I was so pleased she had - the teal colour is beautiful and the little accents of mustard and greyish greens in the fabric are gorgeous (web colour rendering does not do this fabric justice!).
I used the fabric to make another Camas:
I used the Sprites as the main fabric, with a very light chambray as the yoke area.
The first time I made the Camas, I added a strip into the side seam as a "design feature". I think it turned out pretty awesome (the strip was sequins, so it's hard to fault!) but I really needed to have done an FBA on the blouse. This time, I did a proper FBA using this tutorial from Jennifer Lauren Vintage. This tutorial is amazing - I have only ever done an FBA where you introduce a dart, or an FBA on a shirt which already has a side dart. In this tutorial you do a normal (dart-inducing) FBA, then rotate that dart out. I just worked through the steps and aside from some nerves about how much the pattern piece had to be hacked and taped, it was clear and easy to do. It's my new go-to instruction set for this adjustment.
Aside from my awkward arm placement adding a crease where there isn't one, this blouse is perfect. The fabric is bright and the pattern is pattern-y but as a print-o-phobe I don't feel odd wearing it. The fabric is also extremely soft and has a good amount of spandex in, which is crucial for good recovery. I had been wearing this top all day by the time we took these pictures and it retained it's shape very well.
I don't think this will be my last Camas, especially with the new adjustment for a dartless FBA. Similarly I have some of the fabric left, so my daughter might get lucky and have a new skirt in the near future. She LOVES the idea of matching outfits (heaven help me!) so there might be a "Mummy and Me" feature in the near future...!
Your Camas looks gorgeous and the fabric is lovely! The FBA worked really well. Have fun making matching outfits :).
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