Review: New Look 6051 | A Weekend Caftan!

12:00 AM

I'd seen this beautiful silk chiffon at Hancock and I knew that I must own it.  I was hesitant at first because silk chiffon is not my favorite fabric to work with and I hadn't a clue as to what I would make  with it.  So it ended up taking me a few weeks to pull the trigger on that purchase.  And I'm glad that I waited:  the fabric was originally $19.99/yd.  When I bought it, it was on sale for $9/yd!  
I knew that I wanted to make something that would allow the fabric to be the star and with minimal seaming.  So I decided to make a caftan.

I used New Look 6051.  I've had this pattern for a while now and had never gotten around to using it.  
I started this project with the intention of it being a quickie.  Well, it wasn't exactly.  My way of taming the silk chiffon was to use Sullivans' Fabric Stabilizer.  I sprayed the fabric and allowed it to flat dry on my cutting table.  When it was completely dry, it felt almost paper-like.  This made the silk chiffon a lot easier to handle.  And since this is silk, I used French seams and narrow hems.  Simple, but pretty time consuming nevertheless.
Since my venue for the day was a park, I layered the caftan over a white cami with white shorts and paired with sparkly sneakers for an added touch of casualness.
Wearing: caftan: New Look 6051; cami: Target; shorts: Old Navy; sneakers: Converse: purse: Street Style from Lotus Boutique

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48 comments

  1. Hi Erica,
    Love this look! The fabric is TDF. Question about the fabric stabilizer. I have heard about starching a difficult fabric like silk chiffon before, but what do you do afterwards? Does the starch/stabilizer just flake off or do you have to wash it off? What if you don't intend to wash the finished garment, but dry clean it?

    Thanks!

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    1. Sewn, I wouldn't advise using on something that is dry clean only. The point is to wash the garment afterwards. Thanks!

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  2. Absolutely beautiful!

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  3. THIS is stunning! I picked up this pattern a while back and now I'm ready to make it lol.

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  4. You have been working it all summer long with fresh and colorful outfits that are to die for. This is just another one to add to the list. Love it.

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  5. I'm with Andrea! This is another beautiful garment in your summer of color. I love this!

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  6. Anonymous10:44 AM

    Gorgeous! What a great pattern for this fabric! It's so bright and flowy! Love it!

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  7. Hi Erica,
    Beautiful, white pants would look fantastic also! How did you do the hem. I have been trying to enlarge the pictures, not sure if you used a specific foot on your machine or serger. I want this look on the edges of my fall scarves and know the look, just not how to achieve it, thanks Erica, Leanne

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    1. Leanne, I used my edgestitch foot on my machine. Thanks!

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  8. Gorgeous! You could not have paired that chiffon fabric with a more perfect pattern. The french seams and narrow hem were the most logical choice to minimize any distractions from the fabric. You look amazing!

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  9. Thanks so much for the link to the stabilizer! I have silk chiffon that i'm nervous about working with so this is wonderful.

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  10. What beautiful silk chiffon, this caftan was perfect as you said for letting the fabric be the star! Too bad we don't have a Hancock's around here and I never got to see this fabric!

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  11. Absolutely stunning caftan. I adore that fabric, it is amazing. I bet you were on a natural high when you saw the reduction, practically skipping to the till with joy. Love that feeling.

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  12. Anonymous2:32 PM

    Wow- you can even work a caftan! Lovely combo of fabric and shape. Thanks so much for the chiffon sewing tips!

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  13. Beautiful as always! Love the colors and the casual look.

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  14. The fabric is smashing...well done...thanks for mentioning "Sullivans' Fabric Stabilizer" I will be investing in a can or two :)

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  15. Gorgeous. Stunning but simple and suprisingly slimming.

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  16. Erica - the perfect pairing of fabric and pattern. You look great (as usual).

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  17. I shy away from chifon too. I never thought to use fabric stablizer I'll have to give it a try.

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    Replies
    1. Joen, I had great success with it!

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  18. Very cute Erica! I was so surprised when I saw this post...I am currently working on a different project with the exact same fabric! I agree your top will look gorgeous paired with white jeans or white slacks too! Great job!

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  19. Hi Erica, I made this last year to wear to my best friends birthday party ... I used a satin material .. I love this pattern and love what you did, I might go make another one.

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  20. I love that blouse! I would even like to have a dress with that fabric! OMG!

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  21. Erica,

    I bought this pattern months ago waiting to find the perfect fabric. I did today. I was wondering how you shortened yours. The instructions say to shorten on the lines, but there are no lines on my pattern. I thought about just taking it off the bottom.

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  22. Angela, I had to re-read my blog entry because I never shorten ANYTHING. And I didn't shorten (or lengthen) this pattern.

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