Gathered Traffic Blouse

It's Me Made May once again, so with lots of sewists around the world I'm aiming to wear me-made clothes every day this month. Hopefully it will also prompt me to post my unblogged makes here as I wear them. Like this blouse started late last year and finished last month.

The pattern is the Gather Blouse from Japanese pattern book She Has A Mannish Style (English-language version now called She Wears The Pants). The oversized shape gives it a more masculine line which is softened by the gathered back, curved hem and close-fitted round collar. The fabric is a Liberty tana lawn from The Fabric Store. The print is Hunter Truck C which The Fabric Store don't seem to have in tana lawn anymore but the corduroy is still on their website. I thought the more stereotypically masculine car print in feminine pinks made it a perfect match for the pattern.

The piece of fabric was not quite large enough to fit all the pieces on it. So I had a look through my stash to see what else I had that would work with the print and match the weight of tana lawn. I'm not sure when or where I bought this basic black cotton, but it was exactly the right fabric to complement the cars. I decided to cut the front yoke, placket, sleeve cuffs and collar stand out of the black fabric so that it would be enough contrast but not become the focus. I think using the black for contrast helps the blouse not be so overwhelming with its print and also highlights the design lines of the pattern.

I made most of this blouse last year, except for the collar, buttonholes and buttons. I really wanted to make this blouse look as polished as I could, and collars and buttonholes have tripped me up a bit before so I put them off initially. The collar includes a collar stand, not just a basic top and undercollar piece, and my copy of the pattern book is entirely in Japanese with just illustrations to guide me, so I was a bit daunted. I did it very slowly over a number of days, doing one step or part step at a time, then taking a step back to look at it and check it looked right. Sewing the front and back collar stand down evenly was difficult and I had to redo it because my first attempt was uneven and didn't catch both layers. The curved edge at the front doesn't look fantastic, but it's not really visible so I'm happy enough with it.

I then still needed to do the buttons and buttonholes. At first I delayed because I hadn't decided what buttons to use, then had to go and buy some black buttons to match the placket. But I'm really not a fan of doing buttonholes, and had just finished making a skirt (not blogged yet) with a button front that my machine had some real issues with, so I wasn't in the mood to do another set of buttonholes. In the end when I pulled this back out last month the buttonholes were very quick and easy. The placket is interfaced and the black fabric has a slight stiffness to it which meant it was stable and smooth through my machine, so the buttonholes were all done in about half an hour. It took at least twice as long to sew the buttons on!

I used a twin needle to do black topstitching along the around the pockets, on the front and back yokes and along the hem. Because the pattern is quite busy the topstitching is not particularly visible - with the possible exception of around the pockets - but it gives a much neater and more professional finish, especially in keeping the seams flat along the yoke.

It took a long time but I'm incredibly happy with how this blouse turned out. I think the fabric and pattern complement each other perfectly. The style is also good for the current social distancing work from home situation - it's not a formal workwear blouse, but it is dressed and a few steps above pyjamas. It's a relaxed style but with professional touches, and I'm sure it will get lots of wear for many years.

The Liberty Blouse

Although it's been a while since I posted, I have done a fair amount of sewing in the past few months, and even photographed a few things, but haven't gotten around to editing the photos and writing about them. This blouse is one I started making in August, although it took over a month to finish.

The fabric is a Liberty of London Tana Lawn from The Fabric Store. The print on the fabric has an art deco feel, so my initial plan was to use a 1930s blouse pattern. Unfortunately the only 1930s blouse pattern I own needed much more fabric, so I took a look back through my patterns to find something more classic that would let the fabric do the talking.

The pattern is a re-released 1940s pattern from Simplicty, number 8243. Despite the stylised art on the pattern envelope, the sleeves are nowhere near as full. I was almost unsure about using this pattern because I didn't want big sleeves, but in the end the fit of the pattern was much slimmer than the drawing suggested.

While the blouse mostly sewed up very easily, one of the buttonholes on the sleeve cuff was very petulant. Part of the difficulty was that the cuffs are close fitting, so the buttonhole needs to be close to the edge. This meant that if I wasn't careful I'd sew over the seam allowances inside the cuff which pushed my stitching out of line. Fortunately, after two failed and unpicked attempts, the third try worked and I was able to finish the blouse off

It took me longer to finish this blouse than I'd planned because of the problems with the cuff. I had worried that I wouldn't finish it in time to wear before the weather warmed up, but since finishing I have been wearing it to work regularly. The Liberty fabric is soft and comfortable, so it's still comfortable to wear the long sleeved blouse in Spring.

Winter Athena

It's been a while since I last posted a make, but I think this one has been worth the wait. This is the new Athena Blouse from Elise at Honig Design. I've previously made her garden party dress and really loved the pattern. I was lucky enough to be one of the testers for this pattern, and I've been waiting to post it since I finished making it.

Athena is a fitted blouse with double diagonal pleated darts. The diagonal darts are somewhat similar to Simplicity 2444, which is a great pattern I've made more than once. I made the version with bracelet-length sleeves, but there is also a short sleeved version. I chose the longer sleeved version so that I can wear it now that the weather is cooling down. I used a lightweight wool in grey and red check to have both some warmth but still a good soft drape.

I made a straight size 1 unlined and with no adjustments and it fits me well. The waist is close fitting, the bust slightly looser, and the peplum means the hips are loose. I'm slightly long waisted and the waist sits just above my natural waist. The neckline is high but not tight, but could be lowered pretty easily if you don't like high necklines.

I don't always pay a lot of attention to instructions (famous last words?) but given I was pattern testing this I made sure to read and follow everything exactly. Elise's instructions are clear and easy to follow. One of my favourite things is the inclusion of a progress bar showing how far you are through making it - there's a bar of squares at the top of each step which turn blue as you go along. For PDF patterns where the instructions are spread over more pages, it's a helpful piece of information. I'm sure that for less experienced sewists in particular it will be useful to be able to see how much is left to do.

Not only are the instructions clear, but the blouse itself is quite easy to make. There are eight pieces - bodice front, two bodice backs, peplum front, two peplum backs and two sleeves - but it isn't difficult to put together. The darts are sewn first and then the bodice pieces are sewn together. The same is done with the peplum, then the two are joined, the sleeves added and the zipper inserted last. Because I was using a woven wool I also covered all the seams in bias binding to prevent fraying.

I actually haven't worn this top yet, partly because I wanted to wait until Elise had released it, but also because it hasn't quite been cool enough yet. But I can see this top getting a lot of wear throughout winter. I think I'll probably also make a light shortsleeved version for summer, or even lengthen the peplum to a skirt and make it a dress. I definitely recommend others to make it if you think it looks interesting.

Leopard Bow Blouse

And another blouse.

The pattern is from the Japanese pattern book Les Couleurs Francaises. I'd post a link, but can't find anything other than a handful of blog posts. Which is unfortunate, because it's quite a nice pattern book. It's mother-daughter patterns, with lots of matching or similar styles. They're all fairly safely classic and feminine, so they're unlikely to become too obviously dated. It's worth picking up if you ever see it.

Now about the fabric. I do like my kitsch animal fabrics. I'm not particularly excited by standard animal print fabrics, but fabrics with animals on them? Those are great, and I've made clothes from quite a few animal fabrics. So how could I not buy this leopard fabric?

The fabric is a poly with a nice drape. I bought it on a trip to Cabramatta with the Sydney Spoolettes. I think it cost $5 for a metre, which is actually mid-price range for Cabra. The number of fabric stores there make it well worth a visit. The quality of fabrics is variable, but given you can get things as cheap as $2 a metre that isn't surprising. And most of the fabric is pretty good quality.

 As I said the pattern is from the Japanese sewing book Les Couleurs Francaises. It's pattern W, a tunic style pussy bow blouse with elbow length sleeves and front and back yokes. It's one of the patterns that made me buy the book about five years ago, but this is the first time I've made it. In the book they've made it with a broderie-edged cotton, and I'd always thought I'd do something similar. But a fabric printed with a member of the feline family is obviously the perfect choice for a pussy bow blouse.

Being poly the fabric is easy to care for and doesn't seem to crease. However it can fray, so as usual I did French seams to give it a cleaner finish. I also stitched down the yoke seams, both to keep it neat and flat and to highlight the yoke. I didn't have much of the off-white thread I used as topstitching left so all the inside stitching was done in white At first I worried that the topstitching thread might still be a bit too white, but in the end it doesn't stand out much, just enough to accentuate the seam but not so much that you look at the line.

 The pattern was a very straightforward make. Although it has both yokes and ties, it doesn't have anything that's difficult to do. It's loose fitting, so there's no buttons or zippers to worry about. Setting sleeves always requires patience, and a bit of attention is required to get both the keyhole neckline neat - both having the yoke pieces just overlap and stitching the tie to the neckline - but it isn't hard to do. It's probably a good pattern for someone who knows all the basics and either wants to try out Japanese patterns for the first time or just wants to slightly challenge their skills.

 In the pattern book this top is worn untucked, but in most of the photos I've worn it tucked. I think it works better for this fabric, and as a blouse to wear at work I think tucked in is neater too. Although it possibly could stand to be an inch longer, or I could wear it with higher waisted trousers or skirt. But overall, I'm really happy with this blouse and think it will get lots of wear.

70s/80s blouses for the 21st Century

A couple of new blouses today, although one of them was actually made six months ago. But being a short-sleeved blouse it hasn't been warm enough to photograph. Both patterns qualify as vintage, although I'm slightly loath to call the sleeveless one 'vintage' given it's from the 1980s and actually a year younger than me.

First up is my newest finished make, a loose-fitting sleeveless blouse.  The pattern is Butterick 6583, a loose fitting girls' blouse pattern from 1984. Apparently children's size blouses work pretty well for me. It has options of dropped sleeves or sleeveless, I decided to go for the latter. It also has no darts, but instead has dropped shoulder seams with the bodice slightly gathered at the seam.

When I posted it on Instagram when I'd just finished it I wasn't 100% on it because it was looser than I expected.But that was a week ago, just before we were due to have our first hot day of the season on Monday (34°C). One comment on my Instagram pic suggested I'd be very happy with it in the heat on Monday, and Mel, you were right.

The fabric is surprisingly cool to wear. It's a fabric I got earlier in the year when the Sydney Spoolettes held a fabric swap, so I'm not sure of its origins. But it's a polyester yet has a nice drape, good softness, and more breathability than many polyesters do. So I was pleasantly surprised by that. The only thing that I needed to do at all different was to do French seams because the fabric gets that matted fraying that polyester tends to do very easily. But I do a lot of French seams anyway, so that wasn't a problem.

This second blouse is one a made way back on the Easter long weekend. The pattern is the same as my Perfect Blouse Pattern, but made with a basic short sleeve. It's made in a cotton from The Fabric Store, and is offwhite with a peach/mauve floral paisley print. The print is quite pale, but can been seen in the close up in the last picture.

I think part of the reason I hadn't posted this blouse before is because it's not exactly exciting. It's a nice pattern, and the back darts give a good shaping, but it is still just a straighforward work appropriate blouse. And honestly it's a little hard to think of anything else to say about it given I've already reviewed the pattern when I used it previously.

Anyway, so those are my two blouses to wear as the weather warms.  And hopefully I can get this blog back on to a more regular schedule too!

Phryne's Winter Blouse

After summer extended well into autumn, winter has decided to make up for it and arrive promptly here in Sydney. Last weekend was torrential rain, storms, and flooding, which stopped me being able to photograph another project I've finished. Instead, I spent the weekend (and the evenings of this week) on a new winter blouse that Phryne Fisher would love to wear.

The pattern is McCall's M7053. It's from their Archive Collection, originally printed in 1933. The lines and styling are very much Art Deco, but not overwhelmingly costumey. It means it's noticeably not you're average store-bought blouse, but doesn't slip over into playing dress-ups territory.

The main shape of the blouse is just a simple loose top with minimal shaping, with all the interest in the asymmetric cowl. It's a very weirdly shaped pattern piece. It curves around the back at the width of a slightly wider than normal collar and then at the front is basically a large distorted trapezium. Because the shape is very strange and it's not immediately obvious how it inserts into the blouse I wouldn't recommend this pattern for a new, inexperienced or unconfident sewist.

The fabric is a remnant piece of wool I bought at Pitt Trading. It's very soft and lightweight, but also surprisingly warm. I normally feel the cold and the air conditioning system at my work tends to mean I'm always wearing a cardigan or jumper but I didn't need anything over the blouse. It was warm enough by itself. Which is great, because it's such an interesting shape that you really don't want it covered up.

Being wool it was great to work with. It pressed very easily, which was useful for some of the facings and the cowl section. The cowl section is self faced and requires the seam allowance on the facing piece to be pressed down so that it's already folded in when it is attached to the main part of the blouse. First the outer layer of the cowl is stitched to the blouse, and then the facing piece is stitched over, hiding all the seams within. This wool was so good to press that it took all of about 20 seconds to get the seam allowances sharply pressed. The only issue was that, given it's a woven wool, it frayed like crazy. So every seam is bound with bias binding. This did add quite a few hours to the time taken to make the blouse. but it gives the seams necessary security and a neatness of finish.

One important thing to note about this pattern though is that the fabric requirement is pretty absolute. I often manage to use quite a bit less fabric than the pattern asks for. In fact, for this pattern the piece of fabric I had really wasn't big enough. In the end I had to shorten the length of the blouse. I like the length it ended up at, but if you do want it to be hip length like it's supposed to be then ou must buy the required yardage. I also used press studs under the buttons rather than buttonholes. That way I get the look that the buttons give it but don't have to worry about the fabric fraying.

I've named it Phryne's Winter Blouse because it really is something that Phryne Fisher from Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (great show, and wonderful late-1920s costumes to look at if you're a fan of vintage fashion) would wear. The buttons on the blouse are in fact from the Miss Fisher Collection, which I picked up when I saw the costume exhibition recently. It's still on in Parramatta for another week or so, so Sydneysiders get down there quickly if you haven't yet. Looking in the gift shop I saw the buttons and thought not only were they beautiful, they'd also match really well with the fabric. This blouse was at the time my next-up make, so was already in my mind. I knew I needed buttons for it, so decided to buy these ones.

Overall this was a very involved make. The instructions weren't always completely clear, and they actually miss out telling you when to sew up the side seams, something you have to work out based on when the sleeves need to be insterted. But I'm extremely happy with the result. A fabric that suited the blouse so well was a great bonus.

The Perfect Blouse Pattern

I found my perfect blouse pattern.

It's from 1974 (so is 2 of 8 for my Vintage Pledge for the year), the pattern is Style 4478, and I bought it for agrand total of 50 cents at a Salvos. It's also sized for pre-teen girls, but the measurements on the envelope were just right for me.

I'd been looking for a nice blouse pattern for a while, but none of the ones in the big four's catalogues really grabbed me. This pattern was cheap, and was much more what I was looking for. I did lengthen the hem by an inch, and could lengthen it further if I want to make a blouse that will tuck in to a skirt or pants. I also changed the bust darts to be straight rather than angled up so they'd sit at the right spot. But apart from those two minor modifications, the pattern was pretty much perfect.

The fabric is a rayon from Spotlight, bought last year. It's beautifully soft, and I love the vibrant colours in the print. Because it's an all over print I decided it had to be a long sleeve blouse - need to show off as much of it as possible! It frays a fair bit so I did French seams once again. Honestly I rarely do anything but French seams lately, they give such a nice clean finish.

I'm also really happy with how the sleeves look. I was worried that the gathered cuff would look too puffy and costumey, but it didn't end up as full as I thought it would. Instead, it's just got a nice bit of flow that really complements the drape of the rayon without the worry of getting in the way or dragging inadvertently in food.

Mostly it sewed up really well, apart from the hem. You can see in the photos that the centre fronts are slightly uneven. They were cut the same length, but when I folded the fabric under and stitched the hem the end got slightly stretched out of shape. I tried to redo it, but wasn't able to get it to fix properly. It might have worked better if I'd left the interfacing off the front, but it was necessary given the weight of the fabric.

Because the print is so nice I wanted to avoid visible stitching apart from the hem. So all of the front facing and collar are hand finished. I also used press studs instead of buttonholes, because as beautiful as this fabric is, it does love to fray, and I really didn't want to deal with buttonholes falling apart after the second wash. The buttons I used on top are maple leaves in a dark green-grey. They're cheap craft buttons, but I think they match the colour and print perfectly.

 So now I have a colourful and elegant blouse to add to my winter work wardrobe. And I've already made a second blouse from this pattern, a short sleeved version. I'll definitely be making more in the future.