Oh-So-Good Ogden
In fact, the Ogden Cami by True Bias is better than good.
This tank top is a wardrobe staple, scrap-buster and quickie-sew all in one. With a soft V-shape in the back and in the neckline, this simple but classic design harbours boundless hacking potential.
Many have turned this basic shape and concocted their very own versions of it. A quick surf on the web will lead you through endless interpretations of this pattern. It can be cropped or lengthened. Or turn the facing into a lining instead so that the cami can be reversible. Make it into a dress of your choice – a tent shaped midi, or an above-the-knee slip, or a full-length swishy maxi. Or add some tiers for gathered layers. Or make it a button-on tank. Or add a peplum. Or add a flounce or two at the neckline. Or get really ambitious and engineer a braid the way SewNorth did here.
Admittedly, I’ve come very late to the Ogden Cami party. To start off, I made my “mermaid under the sea” version, and I am plenty proud that I managed to squeeze this out of scraps from my husband’s The All State Shirt (review here) from Merchant and Mills Patterns.
In the picture above, I paired up my cami with a pair of dark coffee straight-leg Dawn Jeans, which I did a review of here. The hubby is modelling a painstakingly (but lovingly) pattern-matched All State shirt that I will write about later. Just in case you’re wondering, we never dress in matching clothes. Never ever. I am not judging other couples who do it. We’re just too shy for it. But it’s fun for a little photo shoot in the privacy of our balcony. It took some coaxing for the hubby to dress up and do this with me. Can you tell by his incredulous expression?
I sewed a size 0 (sizes go up to 18) for the cami. This is the straight-up, pure Ogden with no alterations, hacks or frills. I will count it as my muslin to check the fit before I jump into the rabbit hole of fantastical hacks. The construction of the cami is mighty easy, and extremely quick. I consider myself a rather slow sewer but this cami was put together in the time that the dinner rolls went through their final proofing:
Within the span of two hours, I made bread and sewed up a garment. The Ogden makes one feel like a domestic goddess. For the above recipe, go to King Arthur’s Japanese Milk Buns.
