An Interior Roman Holiday in Closet Core Cielo

Italy is increasingly haunting my dreams.  My longstanding love affair with this country began when I was a student in Rome in the 1980’s.  Because European travel is still on hold, I decided to pacify my Italian craving by creating my own interior Roman Holiday with the Closet Core Cielo dress- this dress, hanging out at the Romanesque styled Lady of Victory Chapel nearby and consuming plenty of pasta seems to be the best way to satisfy my appetite for all things Italian.

Pre-pandemic, I picked up this fabulous Ruby Star yarn dyed warp and weft heirloom fabric from Lakes Makerie.  It is whisper soft and extremely lightweight- yet not transparent- which makes it a perfect choice for an easy breezy summer dress.  During the recent heat wave, it was especially pleasing to work with and perfectly cool and comfortable to wear.

I purchased the Cielo dress pattern not long after it debuted as part of the Rome capsule wardrobe collection by Closet Core patterns.  I also purchased and made the Pietra pants which were part of this collection –and blogged about here.   I love my Pietra pants and have made a couple pair, but I never got around to making the Cielo- I seemed to be endlessly waffling over fabric choices.  Check out other makes and you will see that the Cielo pattern can work with pretty much any fabric and will give a different look depending on the substrate used.  I liked so many of the variations.  With such a wide open playing field I was paralyzed from making a decision.

When I finally landed on the Ruby Star fabric, I quickly got down to business.  First, I was a little concerned about scale.  I studied other Cielo makes and discovered several sewists sized down.  When I consulted the finished garment measurements, I decided to size down to a 0- a very bold move.  My regular size for Closet Core pattern would be a 4 to 6 in the bust.  I cut a size 0 from the top neckline to the bust line and then graded out to a size 8 at the hips- close to my measured size.  I also lengthened the dress.

This is a super quick sew with no zips or snaps.  Love that- making this dress was like a vacation.  I chose to finish the neckline with facings instead of bias binding because I am a big fan of a faced neckline.  I like the look and feel you get from a faced and interfaced neckline- the facings provide a bit of structure that the garment can hang from.  This fabric is particularly soft so the facings help provide shape. After easily putting the dress together, I tried it on and I felt a bit too angel wings in the shoulders and sleeves.  So I unpicked the sides and scaled down the armscye a bit by using a pullover woven tee pattern to help with the drafting.   And then I put the dress back together.

I think the Ruby Star warp and weft earthy umber color has an Etruscan vibe and certainly helps achieve my interior Italian frame of mind.  I look forward to wearing this in Italy- when foreign travel is an option again.