And. Cue music.* Hawaiian ukele music that is.

Aloha.

Clearly. I am not in Maui. But my Maui Charlie Caftan has me feeling otherwise.

My make today is the Charlie Caftan View A which is described as modern and architectural with striking pleats beneath the bust.

This caftan was inspired by a comment on my recent Charlie Caftan View B here. My friend Greetje, of No Fear of Fashion complimented me sincerely and additionally said that she would hardly call it a caftan anymore…it was an easy, breezy summer dress. Greetje, of course, is absolutely correct. I did indeed tweak my caftan to the tipping point…it’s a lovely little dotty dress, no longer a caftan.

Her comment got me musing…How true to a traditional caftan silhouette am I willing/wanting to go? wondered me. It was time for some homework and my first task was to re-read Closet Case Patterns Charlie Caftan Pattern Inspiration Post. Up next..Pinterest. I may have drooled over a good many caftan pics when gone down that rabbit hole. And finally…taking a closer look at my actual pattern. I was seeing View A for the very first time. Okay…not true ‘dat. I had printed and cut out view A last year when I was pattern testing, but opted to sew the short version of view B.

View A is drafted for above the knee but I had other things in mind. I lengthened the pattern to ankle length…easy enough to do peeps…draw vertical straight lines on the original pattern pieces until you reach the desired length.

As with my Dotty Caftan, I used the higher set sleeve option with the shoulder line adjusted.

Rayon/viscose…it’s light and drapey. As a result, the pleats aren’t super sharp…in fact they want to flap completely open…so I machine stitched the pleat on the wrong side of the fabric very close to the fold line. I’m very happy with the finished look.

It’s a tad embarrassing to admit, but I bought this fabric because of it’s name…Maui Floral Viscose Poplin. It’s from Blackbird Fabrics and although the green colourway is sold out, they have a gorgeous deep red still in stock {as of publishing this blog post}. It’s drapey, colourful and altogether dreamy.

I could hardly believe it…when I tried on my caftan…the neckline was too low. Again. Wot? I was sure that my neckline alterations were enough…and I stick to the belief that, despite stay stitching, my neckline stretched while I made the garment. In fact my redrafted neckline facing no longer fit the opening, so there’s my proof. I really wanted to keep the V shape so I had to improvise. It was annoying dealing with the same mistake as I had just done on my dotty caftan. But. Watcha gonna do? I cut my front facing pieces out twice, interfaced one, then sewed the two pieces right sides together. After turning right sides out, I positioned my V shaped piece of fabric into the original neckline and top stitched it into place.

I chose a center front slit open to just above the knee. I finished my hemline and slit with Allie Olson’s Highlands Wrap Dress instructions. I know. Every. Single. Dress. I love the technique that much.

Yep. Very happy with the finished look. It has the cool caftan factor I was going for. I totally want to make this same view and length in a linen or linen-like fabric. 

Thanks for reading.

* Oft repeated phrase by Nigel Lithgoe in So You Think You Can Dance.

Wearing : :

Charlie Caftan : : Closet Case Patterns : : also seen here and here