An Embroidered Upton Dress

Hi, friends!

It’s summer (or almost….) here in the northern hemisphere!  It’s the perfect time for making sundresses and my frock making just got a little more awesome with the release of the Cashmerette Upton dress!

Source: Cashmerette Patterns

This is basically the fit and flare dress of my dreams.  It has bodice and skirt options and you can mix and match to your heart’s desire.  It can be dressed down for a casual warm weather look or made into a nice cocktail dress with some lux fabric.  I have plans of making one in wool crepe for the winter with a matching jacket.  That’s basically what I first dreamed of when I saw the pleats and someday I’ll have that dress in my closet.  For now, I have several summer Uptons on my mind.

First off, my husband and I were away celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary this past weekend in San Luis Obispo.  These photos were taken at Hearst Castle.  It was a misty foggy morning and my hair did not cooperate (humidity + curls = natural disaster) and add that to my husband’s dislike of photo taking (I usually use a tripod) and the swarms of people surrounding us on the grounds, so it wasn’t always easy for me to take photos.  We had an excellent trip staying at the Madonna Inn in our kitschy suite and it was a very relaxing and wonderful weekend respite.

This Upton is the final pattern version.  I tested this pattern and loved it from the start.  My tester is a pink cotton twill that I have not quite finished as I’ve been planning to change out the zip (it has a yellow one as that was all I had in my stash at the time).  I didn’t make any modifications to the bodice of this dress.  I did switch up the skirt from the pleated or gored pattern version to a gathered skirt as I did not have enough fabric for the pleats and I didn’t want to obstruct the floral design with the gores.  I didn’t quite cut the skirt long enough for my preference so I used some matching vintage silk bias tape as hem tape to finish it.  That silk bias tape is probably 1950’s or earlier, but notions are meant to be used. 🙂

This dress is made of a gorgeous black and blue embroidered cotton that I bought at Stonemountain and Daughter in Berkeley.  It is the same exact pattern and fabric as the one I used for my red Nanette Lepore floral embroidered dress (purchased for substantially more….), so it’s pretty obvious to me that it’s a Nanette Lepore fabric, although not marketed as such.  I love embroidered fabrics, so this one caught my eye as soon as I saw it at Stonemountain.  I passed it by, but luckily it was still there when I returned. Kismet. <3

Found via an eBay seller

BTW, I recently found a photo of the red colorway and how it was used in this dress.  I like the sundress bodice of this dress, but the way the skirt is cut ruins the fabric design, in my opinion.  I’m not sure why you’d want to obstruct such a gorgeous floral design.  I also found it made into an a-line skirt, which I think works better for the fabric.

As you can see, I chose the rounded neckline and V-back for this dress.  It’s hard to see the waistband, but I really like that aspect of this pattern.  I lined the bodice with cotton voile.

This dress is super nice to wear. It’s comfortable and exactly the shape I like.  The bodice fits nice and I love how I don’t have to do any alterations.  My only alteration on the pattern (when I make it with one of the skirts) is to add some length as it’s a bit short for my preference.  This version with the gathered skirt is also a little bit shorter than what I’d ideally like, but that’s my own fault.  I love this dress! And the pattern is definitely a wardrobe staple.  Jenny is my sewing pattern fairy godmother.

Also, whilst on the central coast, I got to meet up with Melissa (Mint Green Sewing Machine).  We shopped at Birch Fabrics in Paso Robles and then went to eat and taste beer at Firestone Walker Brewery.  We had planned to also hang out with Erin (Miss Crayola Creepy), but she unfortunately had to cancel. Hopefully, I’ll catch her next time. 🙂

Note:  I was a pattern tester for this pattern and received it in return for testing.  These are my honest thoughts and opinions.

Happy Sewing!

• Dress:  Cashmerette Upton in embroidered floral cotton, made by me
• Shoes:  Birkenstock
• Sunglasses:  Tory Burch