Polka Dot Arrows Camber Dress

I try to stay away from quilty-ish fabric, but after my sister showed me this linen cotton blend fabric by Melody Miller, I just couldn't not buy it.

I adore the colour of this fabric. The arrows are pretty cool and those dots between the arrows are gold! I thought the best way to show them off was with a simple shift dress without the red scalloped border, as it was just a little too much for me.

I was really pleasantly surprised with the quality and feel of this fabric. I haven't sewn with a Japanese quilt brand linen cotton blend before. It presses beautifully and doesn't crease as much as 100% linen.

In a break from my standard Vogue 1349, I used a new dress pattern- the Merchant and Mills Camber dress. During the holidays, I enjoyed one nice, quiet sewing day with  my blogless friend Rachel. She had just made up the Camber dress and thankfully had tracing paper on hand for me to trace off my size-Yay! free pattern!

I'm really pleased with this pattern and the fitting is almost spot on. The front, back and darts fit beautifully, but the shoulders were a little tight so I sewed scant seams when setting the sleeves.

As you can see, I couldn't help myself and played with the direction of the arrows on the back yoke. I also added a few small darts to the back to bring the dress in a little, but it really wasn't necessary.

I really like this dress and think it will look cute with gold sandals. It does look a little short in these photos though, so I may drop the hem or just wait until winter and wear it with coloured tights.

Cost:
Pattern: Merchant and Mills Camber dress, traced from friend's copy = Free
Fabric: 1.5 yards Melody Miller Polka Dot Arrows inc shipping = $46.50
Thread from stash
Total: $46.50. Worth it!