An Ogden embroidered camisole and a bag
/For the next item in Ruby’s capsule wardrobe of extraordinarily pretty things, I was decisive about what I wanted to make. For ages I have had a beautiful Japanese embroidery book that has the most elegant embroidered camisole I have ever seen. If ever a vintage girl wanted a cam - this was it! From time to time, I’d look at this photo and think about making one and it also seemed like it wouldn’t be too difficult for an early stages project in my dressmaking adventures. It has lots of scope for embroidery and if it worked, I knew it would be a staple garment that can be worn with almost anything.
I looked around on the internet for a pattern. There were lots of free ones and tutorials, but I wanted a paper pattern and finally settled on this one. The Ogden Camisole is a pattern from a company called True Bias. I have to say that I did feel a little misled with this name - I had in mind to make a bias cut camisole and it was not clear to me until I actually looked at the pattern pieces that this was cut on the grain. However I decided to give it a go because after all, cutting on the straight of the fabric is easier and less wasteful.
The fabric choices were easy….white belfast linen and white tana lawn from Liberty for the lining (a tad extravagant….I know). The one thing I worry about with this whole wardrobe project is using the right fabrics (which usually means more expensive) and that the finished garments will look professional and be hardwearing. I had a length of the most beautiful belfast linen that was given to me by dear friends some years ago and has been carefully wrapped up in tissue paper and ribbon and stored for the day when it would find it’s true purpose. I know that my embroidery skills have improved in leaps and bounds since I was given it, so I am happy that I saved it and confident that now was the time.
In deciding on the motifs for the embroidery, I deliberated for quite a while, but in tandem with this project, I had been working on another ‘accessory’ project and decided to tie to the two in together. Having recently made a ‘woodland wildflower scarf’ with very traditional floral embroidery, I was tempted by this more modern graphic print which was a remnant of home dec fabric from a local fabric warehouse. This second project was a bag making one with a rather unusual twist (more on that later) but suffice to say at this point, the fabrics I was using looked like this.
The motifs were easy to trace and adapt so I used these as my theme. Having traced one of the flower pots on to the front piece of my camisole, I stitched away using similar colours of perle cotton thread to the fabric.
Adding a small motif like this is actually very effective. It is quick to embroider and gives that handmade touch and makes your garment totally original - I was wondering why I haven’t done all of this before. Once the embroidery was pressed the pieces were ready to sew and this proved very easy. The camisole went together very quickly and I used french seams (also a first) to give a really neat finish because linen can fray terribly. The lining sat perfectly and gives an elegant feel to the garment.
Finally I decided to add a crochet edge trim to the bottom of the camisole using a perle cotton #8 thread. This is something I learnt a few years ago from an Anna Maria Horner class on Creative Bug. I cannot crochet at all - this is the only thing I can do and it took quite a few hours to get it right watching the video over and over again. I can now do it relatively quickly and it is a gorgeous detail to add to something.
When I saw the finished result I felt really rather proud of myself. Now I just needed the accompanying bag project and I knew that I would have something a little bit special for summer.
The bag is also a story of something I saw in a Japanese book, tied up with the whole ‘Little women’ costume idea. Baskets generally have had a bit of rebirth in the bag market, with lots of wicker handbags popping up by both designers and chain stores generally. It’s a natural product too and that is primary appeal for me and certainly can have that vintage vibe as well. I bought my basket from Etsy (see link at the end of the posting) and it took a couple of weeks to arrive as it was made to order. It is just a simple shape, but also a good size - not a shopping basket, but a bits and pieces everyday sort of basket. I wanted to make a lining using my fabric and after measuring the base and sides, but out two pieces of outer fabric and two pieces of gingham lining. I layered them with some quilting batting and quilted a simple diamond pattern with the lines about 1 inch apart. I used a french curve ruler to taper the sides - this worked brilliantly and even though it’s not a piece of equipment I use often, it was perfect here for shaping evenly.
I made the bag just like a normal zippered pouch and used Emmaline bag hardware (see below) and zip by the yard (which seems a perfectly wonderful idea and there is even a video on how to attach the zipper pull).
The bag went together easily and looks rather charming sitting inside the basket. It means that if I want to use it as a handbag, my things feel more secure and out of site. Finally I added a little embroidered bag tag with another motif from the fabric and teeny tiny buttons for the finishing touch.
This project has really been a joy. It has boosted my confidence and reinforced my theory that with dressmaking it really all is in the detail. Good quality fabrics, careful cutting, accurate sewing and little hand made add on details that can transform it from an ordinary item into something all together dreamy. All the links for everything I used for this are at the bottom of this post. I am excited to make the next thing in Ruby’s wardrobe - not sure what it will be yet, but I have a suspicion it might involve gingham.
See you soon,
Ruby x
