Rainbow Cambria Duster

I am sooo over the moon with how my new Cambria Duster came out.  I used a kit from Minerva so I can't take credit for the fabric/pattern match up, but I can take credit for having the excellent taste to decide to sew it up out of all the options they had on offer, lol.  Rainbow isn’t normally a pattern/color combination that I would go for (though I do love it on everyone else), but the texture of the weave really drew me in on this fabric and when it arrived, I was so so so pleased.  Also, if you’ve followed my makes at all, you may have also noticed that I have a thing for stripes.  What can I say, I like what I like. :)  

Did you ever make friendship bracelets when you were little? That is 100% what this fabric reminds me of.  Yards and yards of friendship bracelets stuck together in one joyous heap.  Can you think of anything better? I personally cannot.  

I have to admit I have a soft spot for sewing up kits.  I love all the flexibility you get when you make something truly unique from scratch, but I also really like sewing from a kit as a palate cleanser, or a sew-jo booster.  Sometimes its just nice to have all the decisions already made for you, especially when you need yards and yards of bias tape if you want pretty insides.  Plus there is something so satisfying about knowing you are getting everything you need in one easy click.  All of the research and curation was already handled on the back end, so thanks Minerva for putting in all the work :) Included in this kit was the fabric, bias binding, thread (all matching of course), the pattern and even the right weight needles. I didn’t need to make any changes to mine but I also really like that the kits Minerva offer are customizable if need be. So if I already happened to have the pattern for example, I could have just bought the other components.  Conversely, if I wanted to do some pattern hacking that would take a little more fabric (ruffle bottom anyone?), I could have added some extra yardage to my order.  It’s brilliant really.

Friday Pattern company is a pattern company I have used before, but I hadn’t yet made the Cambria Duster, and when I made this it was the very tail end of summer, so so it was a perfect time to sew up a duster with fall on the way.  I just love the casual vibe of a slouchy jacket and I’m not gonna lie, it makes me feel super ‘cool’ wearing it.  I can definitely see myself making one or two more in either (or both) a solid color and another unique textured fabric.  I mean, you can never have enough layering pieces, am I right or am I right? 

The fabric was a total dream to work with. It’s weighty, but not heavy- I definitely would characterize it as medium weight.  Because its cotton, it took a press well and even though its clearly got an intricate weave to it, there was no excessive fraying  I also had no issues pre washing, the colors stayed vibrant, which was a total relief because sometimes multi-color fabrics can end up looking a little muddy after a good wash.

In terms of the pattern.  It came together really quickly. The most time consuming part was the bias bound seams, which are optional in the pattern, but I’m glad I went for them, because they give such a professional looking finish (IMO). I didn’t make any fit adjustments because its meant to be a loose fitting garment anyway, and I really like how most of the proportions came out.  I will say that I wish I had made the pockets just a smidge higher, but I can easily do that next time.  Guess my arms are a little short lol.

The Duster is basically an unlined, not tailored coat,  Basically you can think of it as a floppy coat, which my husband had nick named, a "cowboy coat", lol.  Its funny because, I guess its kind of true when I think of old Spaghetti westerns and what the cowboys wore.  Either way, because there is no tailoring or heavy structure (the fabric on its own lends just enough to keep the shape as seen), the construction was super straight forward. As I mentioned you have to option to finish your seams with bias binding, which I of course I did, because it looks so pretty, but if you skipped that, depending on how fast of a sewer you are, this could end up being a one day wonder project. There were no plackets, cuffs, button holes or really any tricky bits to deal with.

Anyways, I think I have probably already talked your ear off about this project but I love it so much.  Thanks for reading, and if you decide to make the same kit and post it on IG,  you should totally tag me!! We’ll be twins!

Happy stitching friends!

Kten