Dear readers,
Greetings from France! Today's post is my definition of an achievement. I'm showing you the blouse I made for round 2 of the Pattern Review Sewing Bee Contest. I'm calling this an achievement because not only am I terrible at sewing on a deadline, I'm even worse at taking pictures and posting them in a timely manner. And with this blouse I managed to make both happen! (smug face).It's not the first time that I pass round 1 in the Pattern Review Sewing Bee, but it's the first time that I managed to complete the project on time for round 2. When I saw that the theme was sleeves I wasn't terribly inspired. I'm not one to add frills or follow #sleevefest. But I did had a picture of this Chloe Blouse hanging in my sewing space and I figured I could make something wearable/I had exactly 2 days to buy fabric, prepare a pattern and finish my garment before flying out to France but it all worked out.
Pattern
Pattern – self-drafted
I drafted the pattern using my TNT shirt as a starting point. My TNT pattern started initially as a Grainline Studio Archer shirt but I'm not sure that any pattern piece would be recognizable by now. To create this pattern, I joined the shoulder yoke to the back and omitted all waist darts. I created a simple front by removing all pockets, plackets, etc. and lowered the neckline by 2" at Center Front, widening 1" at the shoulder tapering to nothing at Center Back.The sleeves are cut to reach the middle of my forearm. The flounce detail is very simple. I created it by using this technique, but it ends up being a half circle, so with a little bit of math you could draft it directly.
Making
Fabric – Grey Silk Crepe de Chine from Mood NY, contrast ivory crepe de chine from stash.
Notions – Lingerie hook from stash
The construction is very straightfoward, but because the fabric is silk crepe de chine it takes a bit of time to complete each step with care. The fabric is cut on the open (I just learned that this was the proper wording, as opposing to "on the fold"), between 2 layers of paper. All seams are french, the neckline is bound using a strip of bias self fabric. The hem and the back opening are finished with a baby hem using ban-rol. I cannot repeat enough how much i love ban rol for those hems. It produces perfect tiny hems without any wrinkle or stretching.
To follow the Chloe blouse, I used a remnant from this slip dress to bind the inside of the sleeve flounce, but omitted the tying bow. To bind the inner corner neatly, I used something similar to this technique, doing a little bit of origami. When it comes to binding, quilters are the best! Cutting, sewing, folding, they have all the tricks!
I like my finished blouse and I have no doubt that I will wear it because I love the color and the comfortable fit. After checking out the other entries on Pattern Review, I realize that my little sleeves are WAY too understated for the challenge... But even with the sleeve detail being so small, it still somewhat feels outside of my comfort zone.
What do you think readers? Are you pro or anti #sleevefest?