The Blouse

I had this white blouse hanging in my closet. Well it used to be white. Really nice & white. It had yellowing under the good ole armpits and a few "faded spots" where obviously I'd spilled something & tried to remove it. Even without those flaws, I didn't much like it as it had a very tight, almost choking, neckline and it was tight in my tummy. (Years of too much soda pop and not enough water aerobics!)

Anyhoo, I've been reading up on pattern design & alterations. I decided I would test my new found knowledge by carefully taking apart the seams of this blouse & re-drafting a pattern to my liking using this as a base. I wish I had taken a picture of it (on me) before cutting it apart, but didn't think about it until I was quite well into cutting.

Using my very sharp, scalpel type seam ripper I removed all the hems, side seams, removed the sleeves and even the bias trim. Note the bias trim was simply turned under & looped under. Great idea for simple button loops at the neckline.

The surprising thing about this experiment - other than I was ACTUALLY ABLE to succeed at making a new top that FIT was the POOR quality of workmanship on the original blouse. The front piece was not even from side to side, the hem line varied by a whole 1/2" and the bias trim wasn't even all the way around. Wow. Last time I criticize my sewing!

After carefully taking all the pieces apart, I ironed each piece flat and then started drafting a new pattern using these pieces as a starting base. The original blouse did not have bust darts. I added them which meant major changes in the pattern. Then I lowered the neckline and made the shoulders narrower. When I added darts, I put them in the arm hole seam versus the side seam. This meant I also had to adjust the upper curve on the arm pattern. Thus I ended up making, trying on & adjusting 3 muslins. (Muslins are 'sample garments" made from inexpensive muslin fabric - so one can test size and fit.) Each time I had to go upstairs & stand at the bathroom mirror with pins and a marker in hand trying to look in the mirror and make the alterations by pinning & marking where appropriate. Not an easy thing to do! I was constantly marking in the opposite direction - simply because everything in backwards when you look in the mirror. And I managed to poke myself umpteen times with some very sharp pins. (I'll have to put one of the muslins back on & snap some shots. Actually the 3rd muslin was so comfy to wear, I ended up slipping it back on when sewing & left it on until I went to bed. I know -- a bit nutty, eh?)

It took most of the afternoon & evening for this project. However, I am quite proud of myself and I did it!! I got up Monday morning early and put it on. I decided I still liked what I did, so I snapped these shots before taking my shower. (See...flat hair!! LOL) I decided to wear it to work. During the day, two people commented - "nice blouse" and "that's a neat color on you - is that new?" I finally asked one co-worker if she could tell it was handmade. She said I did an awesome job as she had no clue it was handmade. SCORE!!

I have this same silky type fabric in other colors -- sky blue, teal, pink, a silvery-gray, black and white. Now that I have the base pattern figure out, I will make up some more blouses, but vary them a bit in the neckline and maybe even sew some pintucks in one of the fabrics before cutting out the front piece.

See - it's a very small round neckline. Not very comfy for me. (I drew the circle for the pix.)

I am proud of me!