A couple of weeks ago we had a family gathering for Chinese food and I was determined to finish this blouse to wear for it. Armed with lots of tea, plenty of episodes of The Archers on download, and the spirit of the Great British Sewing Bee, I set to.
I made it and despite my reservations about the pattern, I’m really delighted with the finished blouse.
We’ll ignore the fact that I’m larger than the average bear at the moment, and the hedge is in dire need of a trim, shall we?!
Oh, and the creases…I’ve been wearing this all day, including a couple of hours in the car driving to and fro!
The Fabric
This fabric was a lucky find in one of the offcuts bins at Abakhan. It’s polyester but if you don’t look to closely it could just about pass for silk. It’s got a great drape and because they sold it by weight, it cost me about £3. So the whole blouse, including the pattern, came in at under a fiver.
On the subject of polyester…I know it gets a bad rap, but some of my favourite RTW blouse are lightweight poly, and I have to say they suit my lifestyle perfectly. So whilst I’m still always going to love a good quality cotton, I’m not going to turn my nose up at a cute poly, especially when the result is this good.
So, what do I think of the pattern?
Well, I covered this in some detail in my previous post, but, despite the issues I had with the actual pattern, I’m really rather pleased with the results.
The instructions are hilarious. They’ve obviously been run through an online translation and as such make Burda instructions look like War & Peace. I had no idea what they intended me to do with the sleeves and initially sewed both marked pleats in place, only to find that I couldn’t move my arm.
10 minutes with a stitch-unpick and that issue was solved!
I should also point out that I straightened the seam-line of the sleeve to reduce some of the fullness at the cuff.
You can see where the second pleat has been released.
These patterns have the direct opposite of the clear and lovely instructions of such independents as Cake, Colette or Oliver + S. So I pretty much made it up as I went along.
Bias binding for the neck opening and neckline. A bit rough and ready but I was up against the clock and not completely convinced this blouse was going to be wearable. You only notice when you get really, really up close and personal, and The Husband is never going to criticise my stitching 😉
And a quick bias cuff with the bottom of the sleeve gathered slightly to fit.
Would I make this again?
It might surprise you, but absolutely yes! I got many compliments on our night out, most along the line of “wow…love your blouse…where did you buy it”. I’ll take those, thank you very much!
I really need to learn some new poses!
I’ve some beautiful lightweight cotton with a divine polka dot that I’ve been hoarding since November last year (6 metres of it…an anniversary gift from The Husband. Reason to love him #762!)
I’m planning to add some shirring to the centre back to add a little more shaping, and to the bottom of the sleeve instead of a cuff. I’ll probably just gather the sleeve next time although I do like the pleat, but I’m contemplating adding some pintucks to the front and moving the opening to the back with a wee button.
It’ll have to wait a little bit though. A certain young lady has commandeered some red denim in my stash and dragged me to the sewing shop today to buy lining and notions for her own version of the Spring Showers Jacket. Hey…it’s cheaper than a bike!
Lovely blouse! I wonder if it would be nice in a cotton voile? Mind you, I’m still at the stage where I need nice, clear, hand-holding instructions, so perhaps this is one to save for a bit!
Looking forward to seeing the red denim jacket, the boy’s version was so cute.
It would be gorgeous in cotton voile. And you could make this…any decent sewing book will have instructions on how to put a blouse together.
I’m hoping to get the pattern for the jacket taped today, but we shall see. Half term and Easter really put a dent in your sewing time! 😉
Love it! Perfect for Spring weather too.
Thank you. I’m going to have to make at least one more because this is worn, washed and worn again. I love it!
Ooooh, I Love this! Such a beautiful blouse, and it looks fantastic on you! I also love it that you got dragged to the sewing shop. I’m sure you didn’t put up too much of a struggle! 😉
Thank you. I’m delighted with how it turned out.
The sewing shop was a trial, but I survived! 😉
We also went for girlie tea and cakes (Babyccino for herself) to recuperate. It was such fun to have her all to myself for a few hours. She’s delightful company.
A beautiful blouse that was well worth the initial troubles! I like those Lekala patterns, I’m making the second version of a top as we speak. The good news: I heard Lekala hired a native speaker to work on those hilarious instructions. She’ll be one busy girl!
Thank you. I agree that it was worth working out the kinks. I do not envy the girl who’s working out those instructions. But I can see Lekela becoming increasing popular as they sort out the niggles in their patterns. I’m looking forward to it!
Such a beautiful blouse, well worth your initial troubles! Those Lekala patterns are really nice, I’m making a second version of a top as we speak. Those instructions are hilarious. I heard Lekala hired a native speaker to de-scramble them 😉
That blouse looks great!
I have nominated you for a Leibster Award on my blog and though I hope you will accept I don’t want you to feel any obligation.
Kim
Thank you. And for the award. It’s very kind of you.
I love this blouse. This pattern has just been added to my wish list. While most of my favorite RTW blouses in the past (Evan Picone) were polyester, I cannot wear it anymore thanks to wicked hot flashes but I can see this blouse in a Liberty lawn or in a cotton voile. Great job!
Hot flashes are the devil, aren’t they. This would be lovely in lawn or voile.
Love it! This pattern looks so great on you! Plus the print is fab and I can’t see anything rough and ready at all about that bias binding! Thanks for the tip on the Lekala instructions being a bit lacking, I’ll definitely remember that for future…
Aw thanks! I do love this print and am wearing this poor top to death. I really need to get my act together and sew some more.
I think this top is a great wardrobe staple! It’s so versatile. It looks fantastic with jeans, and I can picture it dressed up with a jacket or a skirt! Nicely done.
I can honestly say it’s my wardrobe favourite at the moment, and it’s great for pretty much any occasion. Win!
Absolute winner, you look gorgeous! I’m with you too, a good poly definitely has it’s place in my wardrobe!
Thank you! 🙂 It’s all down to the quality. I don’t want to be sending sparks everywhere…thankfully this is far too well behaved for that kind of nonsense!
Evie, I love this blouse! The time spent redrafting the pattern and working though the instructions was well worth the effort. As far as poly goes, I have to agree with you. I also own a couple of RTW blouses in some lovely poly and have recently purchased some lovely poly that could also almost look like silk. I think it gets a bad rep, but if you exercise judgement, I think there is good quality poly to be had for an affordable price – bring it on!
Thank you! It is really all down to the quality of the poly. There are some shocking ones out there, but this is really lovely and has a great hand and drape. I love this blouse!