Soon after I delved into making my own handmade wardrobe, I discovered the fabric collection from Rifle Paper Co. and immediately fell in love. To me, anything made with their fabric is uniquely handmade and it wasn’t until I finally had my own little stash of Rifle and a copy of the Charlie Caftan from Closetcase Patterns that I finally joined the Rifle fold.

I got my hands on a copy of this pattern through the Great Pattern Swap put on by The Polka Dot Palace and The ZipperFoot. It’s my first year participating and it’s been such a great experience interacting with the sewing community. This pattern has been on my make list for some time now so I was literally jumping for joy when I got it.

Because I really wanted a more structured, boxy style dress, I decided to use this cotton woven in the Wildwood Garden Party Navy. I haven’t seen many versions of this dress made with a less drapey fabric so I second guessed myself, but the end result is exactly what I was going for.

Details:

• Made View A in size 2 with the higher sleeve option and optional ties.
• Shortened by 2″ to fit onto 2 yards of fabric.
• Finished the hem with a serger and folded over 1″ to keep as much length as possible.

The center front panel was the only obstacle I encountered with this make (and the sewalong online helped ton), but the print really hides it well. The higher sleeve option does give a bit more coverage, but it doesn’t completely hide what I’m wearing underneath. If you’re concerned, I would recommend cutting the sleeve slightly higher.

All in all, this pattern was a dream to sew and came together very quickly. I’d highly recommend grabbing it if you haven’t yet. I’ve been wearing this pretty much non-stop since I’ve made it and I plan on making plenty more versions in the future.

Have you made a Charlie Caftan yet? Let me know your thoughts on this pattern in the comments!