I just finished this Afternoon Blouse by Jennifer Lauren, a pattern I've been meaning to make since I bought the pattern at least 5 years ago! The PatternReview "Fabric & Pattern Stash" contest spurred me on to finally get this one cut out.
I traced a size 12, grading out to 14 at hip. It is fairly simple, with only front, back, and facing pieces. And I used a remnant of green linen blend of some kind which I got from a friend last year, when she gave me two plastic bins of fabric from her mother's sewing stash. I had just enough to cut out the blouse version of the Afternoon Blouse & Shift Dress.
The fabric was fairly loosely woven, so I did have to zigzag all the edges of the pattern pieces as I cut them out. But there aren't many, and this went together quickly. I used a lightweight interfacing for the facing pieces, which was just right for the softness of this fabric. I did find once I tried it on that it is a little tighter around my upper arm than I like - I may upick the shoulder seams and restitch at 1/4" just to give me a touch more room. I will add a bit to the pattern pieces for future use.
Otherwise, the only thing I had to watch on this one was getting the overlap to sit correctly. Because my fabric has a bit of a softer hand, I found it wanted to droop. I had to press the front seam and the overlaps in place, then pin them in order to put in the line of hand stitching that holds the overlaps together -- I did it quickly the first time, then realized I had to pick it out because I hadn't carefully arranged the placement and there were sags and droops! I placed the top on my dress form after pressing so that I could get the alignment right, and then restitched the overlaps together, and added the button. Actually, looking at the photos I think I might readjust it again to get rid of the little pucker near the button!
It was kind of fun digging through my button stash to find a single button I liked for this top. The one I had in mind first didn't actually work, so I looked again and came up with this pinkish toned one, which is slightly smaller than the recommended size but I think it looks nice.
I like the way this fits, aside from the slightly tight arm opening, which is fixable -- it floats over the body and feels just right. I will definitely be trying the dress view next.
