Saturday 10 November 2018

Drapey Blouse Make

  
This is my third time sewing with silky type fabric, and the second time (I only realised while making this blouse) constructing a keyhole neckline.  I’m going to talk you through my journey of making this pattern.
The fabric is lightweight with a polyester composition;, andis a non-stretch woven fabric.
This colourful floral fabric has a smooth finish and has the mbeautifulrful drape. I washed the fabric as soon as it arrived at a 30 degrees wash (this fabric can handle 40 degrees).  There is a lot of colour going on in this design, and I’m pleased to say that no colour poured or drained after its wash.
I knew straight away that I wanted to make a top with this material and I had the ideal pattern in mind.  I had recently participated in a swap held on Instagram called the Great Big Pattern Swap and had received this pattern from my swap partner. The pattern in question is the Simplicity K1280.  This pattern asks for a silky type fabric, which made my material choice perfect for the job. There are four different styles of top contained in this pattern, and I had a hard time choosing between two of the styles; B and C to be precise.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted a fitted elasticated cuff or a wide floaty sleeve. It wasn’t really until the top was nearing its finished state that I made the final decision.  
The pattern instructions are great, but there are some construction tips that I want to offer after making this version. I’m not afraid to admit that this pattern and this silky fabric threw up some challenges for me.  I had nearly completed the blouse; I still had the sleeves to add when I decided the whole piece needed to be de-constructed back to its pattern cut-out state.
Why? I hear you ask. The construction of the front crossover piece is interesting.  The instructions tell you to topstitch the two front panels together before you attach the front bodice to the back bodice. If like me you use a lightweight fabric, you don’t really know if the drape is going to look good until the top is sewn together. In my case, I topstitched the two front pieces together with Gutermann Thread colour 107 only to find when the top was fully put together that there were some gathers and puckers that had to be corrected.  Personally, I hate unpicking stitches on delicate fabric, so, next time I’m going to pass on the topstitch step until I’ve tried the top on and checked the fit and drape.
          
On a more positive note, once you have the crossover pieces topstitched together, they don’t move or gape as you wear the top
The shape of this blouse is incredibly flattering, and I will definitely be sewing this pattern again. As I mentioned earlier on in my post, I was torn between style B and C of the pattern.  So, I took a look at my current wardrobe and decided I wanted to create a new piece, one which I would have the opportunity to wear often. In the end, I made view C with long floaty sleeves and skipped the elastic at the cuff.  I feel this gives the top a bit more of a boho look. This sleeve type shows off the fine-looking drape of the fabric, and it is a sleeve which is also on trend for this season. The floral pattern I feel makes this blouse both compatible with jeans or formal dress trousers.



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