I’ve had this cami in my sights for ages, since it’s one of those uber popular patterns that everyone and their granny has made. My main issue with it was the same issue anyone with large breasts has with a cami – that you could wear it without dirty great bra straps showing and spoiling the view. I don’t have anything against bra straps showing per se, (I am a young adult of the 90s where it was de rigeur), but for this kind of top I think my massive over-the-shoulder boulder houlders kind of spoil the delicacy of the garment.

Anyway, I’d read a few reviews from sewists who said it wasn’t too much of an issue because of the strap width – and then I saw an Instagram post from Jen @jenlegg4 about the #OgdenIdaSwap challenge, which she hosted along with Laura @cottonreelstudio. The challenge was to make either the Ida bag, the Ogden cami or both, for a Secret Santa-type recipient and post ’em off. This is exactly the kind of thing that will get me all invested in a pattern, and so it was to be…

My recipient was Rachel @rach_stitched_up, who is a vlogger and has some really great videos showing off makes and projects. I stalked her for a little while, and discovered she wears a fair number of florals and tends towards a lighter palette than I, perhaps. Immediately I thought of a piece of Liberty silk I had in my stash. I bought it in a Liberty sale, just a yard, but when it arrived I knew instantly that, though beautiful, it just wasn’t my colour. I got it out and had a good look and decided that it would suit Rachel admirably, so got to work.

There are a number of reasons the Ogden is so popular I think. The drafting is lovely, you can use up small pieces of fabric since it doesn’t need much, and it’s a really quick sew! The latter reason means I won’t go into much detail, but will tell you that it has a facing, which keeps it all beautifully finished inside. To add to the effect I used French seams for the side seams and tried very hard to get the hem level and straight. It was my first time sewing with actual silk and it was a tad slippery, but I used my walking foot and a slightly longer stitch – and that definitely seemed to help. Overall, it wasn’t as tricky as I was expecting. In retrospect, maybe I should have used simpler seams for any fitting adjustments she wanted to make, but… I didn’t.

 

MY wonderful sender was Mariz @mariz_666 from the Netherlands, who, after her own bit of IG stalking (sewing doesn’t half make you feel dirty sometimes) decided she didn’t have any fabric that she thought I’d like, so actually went out and bought a piece of fabric, just for me! How amazingly thoughtful of her – and she came up trumps!!

 

Photos never do fabric justice, but this rayon/linen blend is a beautiful weight and the coolest garment I think I’ve ever put on my upper body – which is perfect since we’re in the middle of a mini-heatwave (is anyone not??). The pink and purple palette is right up my street: not too pastel and goes with everything.

The fit is great, nice and loose and swingy BUT it doesn’t show my bra straps! At least most of the time, which is more than anyone can ask for. So there we are. The sewing community was right all along: everyone can wear the Ogden and this is also why I like challenges. Many more of these camis to come I’m thinking!!

Thank you so much to Jen @jenlegg4 and Laura @cottonreelstudio for hosting – it was a lot of fun. 🙂

PS. Yes, I have a farmer’s tan. That’s why I need more camis! 😀 I also don’t know why none of the 2,456 pics where I’m smiling came out. C’est la vie.