Pattern: The BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook – Our Blouse
Fabric: Silk Cotton Lawn from Harts Fabric
Notions: about a yard of 1/4″ elastic
Notes:
Something that I enjoyed most in 2011, was sewing with one pattern multiple times. It gave me a chance to work on my construction skills, knowing already the pitfalls from the previous attempts. Since the pattern was already fitted, I felt secure to be creative with the details. Best of all, it was possible to see how fibers and weaves behave differently under the same style lines. This blouse exemplifies this and I was amazed at how it moves and falls in a different fabric. Sewing with a trusted pattern is the best education out there and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s see a challenge this year featuring multiple garments from one pattern.
Although I’m posting this after the challenge deadline, I did complete the blouse on Saturday – well within my original timeline. As my last garment in my winter wardrobe challenge, I couldn’t be happier. Originally, I purchased this fabric for the Pussy Bow Blouse but I decided to pull away from it after finishing my first one. Now that I’ve worked with it, it would have made a fantastic Pussy Bow Blouse. This fabric is heavenly and if I could find it in other colors and patterns I would buy nothing but it! It’s soft as butter and has the most beautiful drape. It reminds me of rayon challis but it doesn’t wrinkle! The cotton made it a dream to sew with, too. It comes in white, also, and now I can’t stop thinking about using it for Truffle from the Colette Handbook.
For this version, I changed things up by eliminating the princess seams from the front. This left me with a “dart” at the shoulder seams which I chose to sew as a soft gather. Hopefully you can see it in the bottom picture, although the polka dots do have a way of hiding the details. In addition, I eliminated the neckline slit, drafted a corresponding facing, and chose to use elastic through the entire waist. If I weren’t trying to make more long-sleeved garments, I would have left this sleeveless as I liked the shape better. Once the drafting was complete, the blouse went together very quickly. For those thinking of making this up, I would recommend making notches on the shoulder pieces because it can be a little hard to distinguish the orientation of the front piece. I had to rip out the shoulders to flip the pieces on this blouse as well as my last. Overall, I’m thrilled with the changes and I’m excited to experiment more with this pattern in the future.
I’ll be back tomorrow with my closing thoughts on this challenge. I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year and here’s to a spectacular 2012!
