Tag Archives: Ogden Cami

The Magenta Ogden Cami from True Bias that took forever to sew!

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Well, I wasn’t going to sew a new Ogden Cami this summer; I sewed already three versions (cami, maxi dress & dress) last summer. I even didn’t bring the pattern with me to our holiday house. Then I went home for four days to celebrate my mother’s 80th birthday and—never not sewing—started sewing the presents for a sweet little girl that was just born. In my search through my fabric collection for suitable fabric for the baby, I stumbled on this piece of magenta leftover. I don’t know what its origin is, or its composition because I must have had it for more than 25 years. When I held the fabric in my hands it said: “I’m perfect for an Ogden Cami!” And so another Ogden Cami jumped to the pole position of my sewing queue.  I grabbed the pattern and put it with the fabric in my luggage back to Italy. This was going to be a sew for maximum 3 hours, I thought. Man, was I wrong!

Ogden Cami True Bias

The magenta fabric

Like I said above: I don’t know the origin and the composition of this fabric. I found two pieces in my collection: one small part with cutouts from a small waistband and a bigger part of 65 cm on a width of 114cm. The fabric has a medium weight and some drape. Perfect for an Ogden Cami!

Ogden Cami

The sewing struggle
Struggle #1 Not enough fabric

When I decided to make the Ogden Cami I roughly put the pattern on the fabric and thought I could fit it. Alas, after trying several placements I had to admit that the piece wasn’t big enough.

Ogden Cami

But no worries! I had a good experience with the self-made striped lining for my Jill Coat so I could expand the fabric with some fabric straps. When I browsed my bags of fabric I saw the leftovers of my sheer Venus Kimono. The selvedge of this fabric has these strange stripes which I found perfect.Ogden Cami

My work order to expand fabric
  1. Cut out the back piece as economical as possible.
  2. Cut the remaining piece of fabric in two.
    Ogden Cami
  3. Assemble all the fabric pieces together to make one strap. Here I made a mistake to match the top of the first strap with the lowest point of the neckline. When I did a test placement of the pattern I noticed that because of that I had not enough fabric for the hem. I tried to unpick the strip but I used a small zigzag stitch to prevent fraying.  Needless to say that trying to unpick was hopeless.
    Ogden Cami
  4. Make a patchwork with small scraps so you have a perfect rectangle.
    Ogden Cami
  5. Stitch the strap to both sides of the line you cut. Cut out the front bodice. Tadaa!
    Ogden Cami
Struggle #2 The bias binding

As I squeezed the bodice out of the small amount of fabric I had, you can imagine there was absolutely nothing left for the lining. No worries! I’ll finish the neckline and armholes with self-made bias tape! That would be easy, because I had my bias tape maker with me. I succeeded in cutting out two squares of 14 cm of the magenta fabric and one square of 15 cm of the sheer fabric. Of course, I wanted the bias tape to match with the fabric of the bodice. bias binding

Although I’ve made continuous bias tape before, I struggled a lot with these small pieces and I just didn’t see how I had to make the loop. Also, due to their fluidity and devilish character both fabrics were very difficult to put marks on. So I made a sample in tissue paper and then the light went on.bias binding

Sewing the first line of the bias tape on the bodice went smoothly. For finishing the v-neck with bias binding I used the little dart technique that I learned sewing my Chari Dress.bias binding

The second part of the bias binding finish, the fold over, was hell! Because of the small squares of fabric I used there were a lot of tiny seams in the bias tape. And again, these fabrics—although starched— wouldn’t let themselves fold. So I basted the more tricky parts. This made it easier to sew the folded over bias tape.Ogden Cami

Then finally I could hem the bodice. I couldn’t believe that this Ogden Cami was finished. It was a 4-days journey!

Ogden Cami

Conclusion

Am I happy with my Magenta Ogden Cami? You may think I am not but I am! Since I finished it I wore it non-stop and I love wearing it. Just like my other Ogdens, this is a perfect wear for these hot days. Will I sew more Ogden Camis? I guess the answer is no but you’ll never know when I find another piece of fabric that talks me into it!

 

The floral Ogden Cami Dress from True Bias

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Wow, this is the Summer of the Ogden Camis. I so enjoy wearing my Cami and my Maxi Cami Dress that I decided to make another one. This time I would go for another hack. I wanted to use the bodice of the Cami and combine it with the skirt part of the Chari dress. I hoped that would give a whirly, summery dress. However, it turned out a little different ;).

Ogden Cami Dress
The floral fabric

Like the fabrics for my other Camis, I also found this one at the market in Castel del Piano. It is soft, silky, and drapey. Normally I’m not a great fan of floral and blue but I liked this piece. It has a bit of an oriental vibe, hasn’t it?

Ogden Cami Dress

All these market fabrics are pre-cut and this one was only 1,60 m with a width of 1,50m. So I knew that I had to cut both the front and back piece in two pieces. I even had to put a seam in the back lining.

Ogden Cami
Stitching two pieces of fabric together to be able to cut out the lining.
The planned dress hack

In one of her latest video posts, Johanna LU from ‘The Last Stitch‘ called for sewists to show more sewing struggles. Well here is my struggle.

First I measured on my Ogden Cami where would be the good spot to put the tunnel for the elastic (about on my natural waist). I put the mark on my pattern pieces, folded them, pinned them on the fabric and cut the fabric.
Next, I cut the skirt pieces as wide and as long as the rest of the fabric allowed. After sewing everything together and only with the first fit, I noticed my mistake. I cut a straight seam on the bodice pieces and not a curved one! I totally forgot that I have boobs. So the desired straight seam was now curved. More, it was not possible to use this seam as a guide for the tunnel for the elastic.

Ogden Cami Dress
Forget to draw a curved seam for the bodice.

Luckily I saw that it was possible to wear the dress as it was. Due to the floral print and after a good press you don’t notice this curved seam.

Ogden Cami Dress

The sewing process

For this Cami I used the construction method from ‘What Katie Sews‘ and it worked well. She has a good tutorial on her blog. Although following True Bias’s instructions was not complicated I found Katie’s way easier. It simplified the attachment of the straps and made it a quick sew.

Ogden Cami Dress

Conclusion

It’s no secret that I, again, love my Ogden Cami Dress. Even if it turned out different than I planned.  I wore it already several times and it is absolutely a much-needed garment for hot weather. I am even more pleased that I can layer it up with a linen jacket or a cardigan. So it will be suitable for colder days.

Ogden Cami Dress

Will I make more Ogden Camis? Not immediately but someday I will.

 

The Ogden Cami & Ogden Cami Maxi from True Bias

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Ever since I featured the Tiffany’s Ogden Cami Maxi in my Eye-catchers I wanted to sew one myself. I only have one maxi dress and I love wearing it, especially when it’s baking outside. So I tried a small pattern hack to turn the Ogden Cami in an Ogden Cami Maxi and I am thrilled with the result. Both of them are going to have a lot of wear!

Ogden Cami

Ogden Cami Maxi

The Ogden Cami pattern

I again enjoyed that I printed the pattern in A0-format at the copy shop. The different lines for the different sizes are very clear. I cut out the 5 pattern pieces after I graded between the bust and the waist. As always I lengthened the front and back pieces with 5 cm. On the front and back pattern piece is a line indicated for lengthening/shortening. I find this a plus for a pattern. The alterations came out perfectly.

Ogden Cami

The fabric

I bought both pieces of fabric at the monthly market in Castel del Piano. There is this cute market stall where you can buy all kind of cut fabric pieces for 5€ per piece and 10€ for 3 pieces. I got these two pieces together with the black knit for my daughter’s swimsuit I sewed in July. The downside is that you can’t decide the length of the pieces; they are all pre-cut. This caused no problem for the camisole but it was for the maxi dress (see below). Also, these pieces have no labels. The olive green is probably viscose and the black & white feels and looks like crêpe.

Ogden Cami Maxi

The sewing process

I sewed a True Bias pattern before,  the Hudson Pants that I love so much. So I knew that the accompanying instructions would be clear and so they were for the Ogden Cami. The successive steps come logically and every step is illustrated with straightforward designs. I had no difficulty putting the top together and the fit was from the first try spot on!
I loved the tip to sew a label at the back neckline to distinguish it from the front because indeed you can’t see it with the naked eye.

Ogden Cami

 

Making the Maxi Dress

To draft the maxi dress I copied the measures of the maxi dress I have.

  1.  The total length from the underarm to the hem = 130 cm.
  2.  The width of the hem = 200 cm. For me, skirts of a maxi have to be wide because I am not a fan of vents.

I didn’t draft new pattern pieces but I lay the pieces of the cami on the fabric. I folded the side seams and drew with chalk the desired length from the underarm to the hem. Ahem, this is what I wanted to do but my fabric was too short!! (I only had 175 cm of 140 cm width). So I drafted a front and back piece, both on the fold line, as long as I could. To make my desired length I cut two pieces cross grain. Luckily the design of the fabric is very forgiving so you have to look real close to see where the seam is. In the end, I reached a hem width of 180 cm.

Ogden Cami Maxi
Can you spot the seam between the two pattern parts?

To reach the desired length I had to use a back piece with a hole at the side seam. I patched it up!  Again, you have to look real close to see it!

On the left the hole at the side seam. On the right the patching!

Because there was no fabric left for the lining I used some vintage cotton from my collection.

Conclusion

I am over the moon with my Ogden Cami and even more with my Ogden Cami Maxi Dress. What I like in particular about this pattern is the delicate balance between the soft v-neck and the straps. And wow, I can wear them without a bra!
At this moment the sewing world is booming with Ogden Camis. So a lot of you have yet discovered the sublimeness of this pattern. For those who haven’t yet sewed one, do it!