Tuesday, March 25, 2014

One Sweet Blouse

I'm back!  After a looooong and wonderful vacation, I'm back home and slowly emerging from my pile of e-mails.  I had an amazing time and so enjoyed seeing the differences in fashion between the US and UK/Ireland (Super short skirts, leggings as pants, madness all around).  But now that I'm home, I'm excited to get back to sewing!  I have a project for this weekend already picked out, and I'll be working with legit expensive silk for the first time.  Here's hoping I won't fuck it up!

And now for a project that I finished right before we left.

There were two things driving me to make this blouse.

First, a recognized need for more solids in my wardrobe.  I actually didn't own a white blouse before I finished this one.  Second, I bought these crazy adorable vintage milk glass buttons on Etsy and needed to make something with them.

I chose a plain seersucker because let's be honest, it's real hot where I live.  And I think this will work perfectly throughout the summer.


This is not something that I would reach for in a store.  I tend toward brighter colors, prints, and usually avoid button downs.  But that's exactly why I needed it in the first place.

I am really, really happy with how this turned out.  I muslined it first, and was super frustrated by the sleeves.  They fit, but it was really uncomfortable to move my arms up/to the front.  After a lot of research, I was able to figure out the issue.

Basically, when you look at a shirt laying flat (or a pattern illustration), the more severe the angle between the sleeve and the shoulder, the less room you'll have.  So a t-shirt where the sleeves basically stick straight out?  Lots of room to move.  A blouse where the sleeves are set in at a low angle?  Fat man in a little coat.

With that in mind, I redrafted the sleeves with a much more flattened sleeve head.  I was skeptical, but it totally worked.  It's WAY more comfortable and flattering.


This is SUCH a good basic.  I love how it's pairing with all of my skirts and bottoms.  I do wish it had just the tiniest bit more length so I was more comfortable wearing it with jeggings.


The best part, though, is the detail.  The seersucker is just so sweet, and the little detail of the glass buttons makes it.  This is one of those items that really doesn't "seem" handmade in person, and it looks pretty expensive.

I am going to use this pattern to make a blouse with some gray/white stripe shirting, and I'm really excited about it.  I think I can make some improvements in the fit at the high bust, and I'm going to add a cute bias detail on the back yoke.

I am really proud of the quality of my work here.  This was the first collar I've made, and I think it turned out pretty darn good!  These are by far the best buttonholes I've made.  And I'm proud of the finishing as well.

So, the stats:

Project:  White seersucker blouse
Pattern:  Colette Violet
Fabric:   Plain white seersucker, bought at High Fashion Fabrics in Houston (my fave fashion fabric store)
Notions:    thread, interfacing, 7 buttons (I had 6 so I just redid the spacing)
Skills involved:  setting sleeves, gathering, buttons/buttonholes, attaching a collar
Changes made:  Changed the button spacing to eliminate one button, redrafted sleeves for freer movement of arms.  I don't remember exactly the sizing changes, but I know I cut at least 2 sizes smaller at the shoulders than at the waist/hip.
Fuckups: None, actually!  I concentrated on taking my time here and I think it paid off.

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