This lovely dress is the new pattern from Cashmerette, the Ellington Dress. Like all Cashmerette patterns, it’s designed for figures blessed with a C cup or more in the chest which for a strapless dress is a feat. This dress features boning to provide support, but it’s also just a lovely shaped bodice that hugs the body beautifully. I believe they also designed it to show off their Symmes strapless bra. I started making the bra to wear with this dress, but unfortunately didn’t finish in time. Once I get it done, I’ll report back though!
The dress features 3 options for detachable sleeves and can be mixed with a variety of skirts from other Cashmerette patterns. I chose the draped sleeves and the skirt which comes with the pattern because the combination of the two immediately had me thinking of a romantic heroine. And I’m pretty happy with the result. In these pictures, I feel like I’ve stepped out of a romance novel!
I made a size 2 C/D in the bodice and waist, graded out to a size 6 at the hips. For reference, I measure at a size 4 C/D at the bust, size 6 at the waist, and size 8 at the hips according to Cashmerette’s size chart. However, looking at the final measurements of the garment and knowing that I prefer my garments to fit a bit snugger, I opted to size down. I always recommend looking at the final measurements, especially if you already know how much ease you like in your garments.
Beyond the grading, the only other size adjustment I made was to shorten the skirt by about 4 inches above the slit, and then an additional 2.5 to 4 inches around the hem. Basically 2.5 inches at the front graded out to 4 inches at the back. Again, for reference, I’m 5’3″ and did not plan to wear heels with this. Taking off 4-5 inches is pretty common for me. I expect the extra was because this is intended for formal wear and heels.
Doing the shortening on the asymmetrical skirt was challenging because the shortening doesn’t reflect the same on both sides, so I ended up having to double check my side notches and lengths to make sure everything matched up. If I had to do it again, I would have just graded normally from a 2 to a 6, taken all the length off the bottom and then raised the top of the slit. That would have been much simpler and no doubt everything would have matched up much more easily.
Per usual, I like to make a dress my own which I did by adding a faux corset back to this one. I used the included instructions for moving the invisible zipper to the side and then cut the back pieces on the fold, for both the bodice and the skirt. The bodice to do the faux corset and the back just so they would match.
I cut bias strips at 1.5″ wide and sewed them right sides together with a 3/8″ seam allowance. I trimmed the seam allowance down and then I turned them right sides out using a Fasturn Tube Turner. For the side loops, I did two short tubes. For the lacing, I did one very long tube and I had to really cram it down on the tube turner. It was almost too long, but I managed to make it work. I also threaded through some cording in the short ones for the sides just so that they would have a little bit more heft and not collapse once they were laced up.
For the sides, I cut the loops 2″ long each. Then I used a buttonhole spacer to evenly place the loops within the top and bottom seam allowances. (Note, there are cheaper spacers, but that’s the one I bought about 7 years ago.) I basted the loops down and sewed the side seams. After pressing the seams away from the back so they naturally followed the direction of the loops, I sewed an additional top stitch 1/8″ from the seam line to add strength although there shouldn’t actually be any tension on it due to the lacing in this particular case.
The rest of construction proceeded according to the directions.
I made this dress out of a lovely designer deadstock linen rayon blend from Califabrics. I promise I pressed it before these photos, but as you probably know, anything with linen pretty much wrinkles when you look at it. It’s part of the natural beauty of it. And to be honest, I think it does add a bit of that lived-in country charm in this case.
The lining is the lightest cotton lawn from Needles Studio. It’s so light that I actually doubled it up for the lining to ensure it would be strong enough for the boning. But the lightness was perfect for keeping the airy feel of the skirt where I kept it at one layer.
One of my favorite parts of this dress is the clean finish of the lining. The way they have you attach the skirt and the lining means no handsewing to tack down the bodice lining or finish off the zipper! I pretty much avoid handsewing whenever I can so this was a gift and definitely a technique that I may try to use with other patterns, even if it doesn’t call for it.
Admittedly, I did have to hand sew the snaps for the shoulder straps. The pattern calls for buttonholes, but there was no way my sewing machine was going to be able to stitch a buttonhole cleanly through the layers of the binding on the edge of the straps and I wasn’t about to try manually doing it by machine and I certainly wasn’t going to handsew buttonholes. So I went with snaps which in general I find easier to put on when I’m alone anyways.
And now I’m off on my next adventure!
