My vacation resulted in many completed garments but the Cabarita is by far my favorite. The blouse is designed by Cake Patterns and was a quick sew. I had intentions of sewing this a week ago but ended up starting it just a few hours before I needed to wear it to the ballpark with family for the holiday fireworks and still had plenty of time to eat and socialize with the family.
Highlights of this pattern include:
- Thick pattern paper instead of tissue. Steph designs her patterns for tracing so they can be used over and over.
- Minimal instructions. The RIFF line of patterns are intended for more advanced sewists and do NOT include pattern layout grids or much in the way of assembly illustrations and directions. However, the patterns are typically very straightforward so even a relatively new sewist like me had no problems getting this one completed in a few hours.
- Large range of sizing and tracing lines that easily accommodate significant waist to hip ratios like mine (nearly 12 inches)
- Reversible styling for stripes. This to me was the coolest feature of the pattern and though the collar version is actually the one Steph initially designed to wear in the front, I preferred the chevrons so wore this way instead. In addition to chevrons being a slimming look, they also showcased my latest vintage pin quite well!
Overall I am super pleased with this pattern and will definitely make it again. The one thing I will change for next time is to make the upper arms with more ease. I made the pattern in 47 bust but need probably another 1-2 inches of ease in the upper arm to prevent pulling at the shoulders. Upper arm tightness is often a problem for me so I should have automatically made this alteration. Even so, this version is still definitely wearable due to the thin knit fabric but would be uncomfortable in anything thicker. Other than that, the Cabarita pattern is perfect and coordinates wonderfully with my red Hummingbird skirt!
My Modern Vintage 