Lemon Ice (Orla Dress + Ogden Cami)

I\’m back again with another Orla dress–and I think I mentioned last month that I couldn\’t get enough white eyelet? When I made my first white eyelet item of the summer, this pleated skirt, I mentioned that I wanted to wear it with different colored slips. This dress is the extension of that idea!

This Orla has two simple changes that, along with the fabric choice, give it a totally new look. First, I added an exposed neck facing–I think it looks a little neater than using the bias binding neckline when the body of the dress is in eyelet.  There\’s a tutorial on how to do this at the bottom of this post if you want to do the same thing! All you need to do is use your bodice pattern pieces to draft your facing, and then apply it on the outside of the dress rather than hidden on the inside. You can do this on any dress with a neckline facing, too, for a little change. (If you wanted to stick with the bias neck finish you could, though! I\’ve done that before and you can see it on this coral eyelet dress.) The second change is the addition of a waistband. Since the Orla has a raised waistline, I made no changes to the bodice pattern pieces. I tore along the width of my contrast fabric to create a 2.5\” wide strip, and sewed it to the bottom of my completed top before trimming the edges to match the bottom of the bodice. Then just gather your skirt as usual and attach to the bottom of the waistband, rather than the bottom of the bodice pieces!

The slip underneath in the Ogden Cami, one of my favorite easy patterns. I spent ages half-heartedly looking for a non-bias cut cami (preferably dartless) and when the Ogden was released I had high hopes–that have been totally exceeded. I\’m not the first one to make an Ogden dress so I can\’t take credit for the idea, but I do plan on making tons of them! For this one, I just extended the side seam lines by about 10 or 11\” (I\’m not sure since I serged some of the bottom off), which is similar to what Emerald Erin did with hers, but True Bias has a tutorial on how to add a gathered skirt and I want to do that next (I even have some stripey fabric so I plan on copying this look)! Sew Busy Lizzy left the half-lining on the outside for a sweet overlay and I may do that too. So many ideas… I\’ll have to do an Ogden month next, I guess!

I\’ve been seeing such pretty Orla\’s popping up on instagram, be sure to take a look at the #anorlaaffair hashtag for lots more community inspiration! Y\’all amaze me.

xoxo,