Misty Cami Dress in Sangria Rayon

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My Misty Cami dress was a real treat to sew up in this Sangria rayon from The Confident Stitch.

This was my first Sew Altered Style pattern. After purchase I learned that it’s named after ballerina Misty Copeland, the first African American soloist in the American Ballet Theater. This info, which I find inspiring, is in the pattern instructions.

This was also my first time ordering fabric online! I’m usually a tactile person, I need to feel the fabric. But with Corona lockdown, stores aren’t open for fondling fabric.

So when I saw the Figo Sangria floral print, I couldn’t resist it. It has my favorite colors, which were also our wedding colors. And every June, I make a new dress to celebrate our (first) wedding anniversary. (We got married twice!)

To help celebrate with me, The Confident Stitch is offering a 10% discount on the entire line of Figo rayons in their catalog. Use SANGRIA10 at checkout. The discount is good through June 21, 2020.

The Misty Cami

This isn’t going to be a full pattern review like I normally do. Consider this more of an overview.

Like I mentioned, I make a new dress every June to celebrate our elopement. This year I had a hard time deciding on what that might be.

I went back and forth between a few options, but was finally swayed by Laura at The Specky Seamstress. She and I have similar measurements so seeing her many versions of the pattern made it an easy choice!

I knew from the beginning that I would turn the facing into a shelf bra, like I do with my Ogden Camis. Since the Misty Cami has bust darts, making sure those lined up with minimally-supported boobs was pretty important.

To test that, I made the cami version as a muslin. This is how I learned that the size 18 cami pattern can be made out of a single yard of fabric! Though it does have to be pretty wide fabric, and the facings have to be made from something else.

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I made it up in a spare yard of Minerva fabric I’ll have a post about over on their blog soon.

This facing was made in stashed cotton gauze. It’s the perfect fabric for hot weather. Just like this Sangria rayon!

Because the entire Misty Cami neckline and armholes are susceptible to stretching, I highly recommend staystitching all of it. I didn’t do that on muslin’s armholes and I think they stretched out. I noticed I needed to pinch out a good chunk in the front to avoid gaping.

When I sewed up the Misty in the Sangria fabric, I opted to do a 3/4″ (1.9 cm) petite adjustment on top of staystitching the entire neckline. I learned it from Whitney of TomKat Stitchery. She has a video about it!

So with all my typical adjustments (minus shortening the bodice) and this one included, I was ready.

The pattern comes with 3 length variations (blouse length, above-the knee dress, and below-the-knee dress). Views A and B are the same straps though A is the cami version and B the longer one. Views C and D are similar in the straps and also have a higher back bodice. Views A and C are the same length.

For the muslin I’d used the View A/B skinny double straps with the View C/D higher back. That was a lot of little straps to make, so for “the real thing” I simply did the two wider straps from View C/D. I also opted for the shorter version of the dress.

Now I’m only 5’3″ (1.6 m) and short waisted, so all of my height is really in my legs. I did not do the typical 3″ shortening in the bodice and boy am I glad about that!!

The hem for this dress is 1.5″ (3.8 cm). But that would have left me feeling indecent in the dress. It would have been more appropriate as a nighty! Instead, I serged the bottom and turned it up twice, ending with a 1/2″ hem (6 mm). That means I gained back an inch, but I probably could have used a little more length, especially in the back (#bigbutt).

And I love it!! Did I mention it also has pockets?

I wore it to Maker Mountain Fabrics’ Virtual Frocktails that weekend, and all day on my anniversary (even though we stayed inside thanks to Corona and looting). It’s great for just sitting on the couch!

Or enjoying summer with a homemade sangria in the outside heat.

Get your Misty Cami here.

Figo Rayon in Sangria

The Figo Sangria fabric was absolutely awesome to work with.

This rayon has great drape. It’s lightweight which means it’s perfect for hot weather. Cuz it breathes very nicely in the heat.

It’s a woven fabric of course, so it will fray. But it doesn’t fray a lot which means you can wait to finish the seams and you won’t have loose threads flying everywhere.

I know rayon can scare people because it’s so shifty. It used to scare me, too!

I’ve learned that using a 1:1 dilution of spray starch on the fabric when I first iron it takes all the scary shiftiness out of it. I use the Purex Sta-Flo in the original formula. (For reference, the 1:1 ratio of starch to water is considered the “heavy” starch level on the label.)

For sewing it, I used a Schmetz Universal 70/10 needle with a walking foot. This is another level of protection against shifty fabric, as a walking foot helps feed the fabric through the machine evenly.

What else could you make with this rayon? The product description on The Confident Stitch‘s page also recommends this fabric for 3911 Jalie Michelle Dress or a True Bias Shelby Romper.

I had an extra yard leftover from this project, so I frankenhacked a Laela Jeyne Cosette blouse with a Chalk & Notch Fringe neckline. Here’s a sneak peak:

The bottom line on the Figo rayon is that it’s great for any summer project that calls for light to medium weight fabric. It’s not sheer so there’s no worry about lining it. It will wrinkle, but so do most natural fibers.

So if you’re in the market for beautiful rayon that’s relatively easy to work with, I highly recommend it! It ships quickly and I’ve got a discount on it for you!

You can pick it up from The Confident Stitch for 10% off right now. It’s not just good on this specific print but on the entire Figo catalog! Use SANGRIA10 at checkout. The discount is good through June 21, 2020.

Not ready to buy it just yet? Pin it for later!

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