Do you ever get that thing where, upon completion of a make that didn’t quite go to plan, you know you must return to the same pattern to right your wrongs? As in, you have to prove to yourself you can follow instructions accurately and create the garment as it was meant to be? Well, that’s how I felt following my African waxed cotton top, so I kept the Camber pattern out and from my stash pulled this gorgeous peach floral linen that I purchased from Rachel at Holm Sown a couple of years ago. I remember it was a remnant that was exactly the right length for the Camber, which I purchased at the same time. I do love fabric with a dark background and a colourful floral.

This time I cut the dress version and took care when following the instructions regarding the neckband. I still didn’t get it quite right I don’t think, but it’s much neater and more even than last time. I sewed it all on my sewing machine and just pinked the seams, but I did use peach cotton to top stitch on the yoke and hems.

As the Camber is quite loose fitting and not a silhouette I am used to wearing, I prefer to pull the waist in. On my previous Camber dresses I have used a slim RTW belt for this purpose, but this time I opted to make a simple belt, using 3 long rectangles of leftover fabric stitched together to make a length. I was about to top stitch it in the same way as the rest of the dress, but suddenly made a rash decision: I would use one of the embroidery stitches on my machine! I didn’t intentionally purchase a machine which features embroidery stitches but it’s a second hand machine which was the price I wanted to pay. To add some decoration to the belt seemed like a way to add some detail in a subtle but pretty way.

No, I don’t know who that tiny man is either

For all the top stitching I had popped the peach in the top of my machine whilst keeping the navy in the bobbin. I did the same for the belt decoration and used a leaf design. I actually quite like the way the peach side pulls through a tiny bit of the navy around the leaf and vice versa on the other side. I also really like how the peach shows up on the navy fabric etc etc

For once I am really pleased with how my make turned out! There are no major flaws and I already think I will get a lot of wear out of this dress over the spring and summer. I do like it with the belt but I also know this would be perfect for warm weather without. My main observation from the photos is that I really should invest in some tan colour tights.