This is my lovely new Charlie Caftan from Closet Case Patterns.
It usually takes at least a few months for me to start liking something I've made but I love this straight off the machine! As Heather Lou says, it really is caftantastic!
The drafting is excellent, especially that centre panel. I thought it would be horrible to sew with a drapey fabric but it went absolutely fine - everything lined up so perfectly. The blog post about setting it in also made it much easier. My corners aren't perfect but they're good enough for me, and on such a busy fabric it's barely noticeable.
I couldn't for the life me get my top stitching right on the v neck so instead I hand basted it before sewing it down with a running stitch in cream embroidery floss. I like it so much after I'd done it that I did the same the centre panel too.
For reference this is a straight size 14 (I measure B - 40, W - 33 and H - 43). I went for the 14 rather than 16 because I have narrow shoulders but I probably should have graded out to a 16 at the hip. I mean it's still roomy but an extra inch or two added to the back panel would make it perfect [EDIT: Having worn this out in the wild, I don't think I do need the extra room, it was perfect as is]. I also took 5 inches off the bottom (out of necessity rather than preference) but I quite like the length. I'm 5'4" for reference.
I also raised the underarm seam by 2.5" as I wanted to wear it as a dress rather than a cover up and I was showing rather a lot of skin with the larger armholes.
I will definitely be making another one soon. I do quite fancy View A with the pleats so watch this space!
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