Hot Pink Burda Blouse

I had a lovely holiday, lots of reading, sewing, eating and visiting. And now I'm back with my first post of 2024! I thought I would share the blouse that I finished just before the end of the year, so that I can share my roundup of favourites of 2023 later this week -- this blouse will be a part of that :)

I thrifted some hot pink cotton (maybe a linen blend?) at my local thrift in 2022, and had been intending to use it for a blouse all year. I hadn't gotten around to it, though, until PatternReview's December Fitted Blouse contest rolled around. I thought it was the perfect time to finally make it! (and you can go on over to PR if you're a member and vote for me there now, until the 10th,  if you are so inclined!) 

I cut it out in early December but got distracted by Christmas sewing, so really got to sewing it up after Christmas Day. I used a pattern I've made before, Burda 105 from the April 2018 issue. I liked my first one and thought that the unusual darts and design of the blouse would show nicely in this solid fabric.

Of course, in the solid I had to be a lot more careful to have everything lined up so that the dart ends and waist seam would be even across the middle. That was the only really fiddly part. 

Sewing with solids is not my usual habit, so I had to add some print in! I used the scraps from my summer Barbiecore dress for the inner yoke and collar band; it was the perfect pink match. I was going to use some high contrast black buttons, but I discovered an amazing match in my stash. I had purchased some half-pink buttons of the right size in the bargain bin at Fabricland a month or two ago. I really needed another card to have enough and thought it was pretty unlikely to find any more in the random sale bin so much later. But I headed down to the the store to check, and like magic, found two more cards after sifting through the bin a while. It was meant to be! 

This one isn't very difficult, but it does take some time. Lots of little bits to get right. I really like the darts in the front, but also the narrow yoke in the back which adds shaping and some width to the back as well. I also really like the two piece sleeve, with the lower section more gathered. I didn't adjust the body very much but I had to take 3" off the sleeve length, split between the two sections. 

There is quite a bit of topstitching, on the collar, cuffs and button band, so I was glad to have my quarter inch foot to keep my stitching straight. I edgestitched all those areas, preferring a narrower line than a 1/4" topstitch. The foot really makes it so much easier.

I love how the colour of this really jumps out at you in natural light. The shape is great, the fit is very nice, and I just love the whole thing. It's the bright pink blouse of my dreams! 

I'll be sharing some of my other 2023 favourites shortly, and some more New Year kind of thoughts as well. Hope your holidays were restful and that you are ready to face 2024. 

1986 Blouse in Upcycled Rayon

This Style pattern was one I had on my wishlist to make at the beginning of this year. It all came together to convince me to make it now, as there is a blouse making challenge on IG, as well as the return of The Refashioners, AND a challenge to sew with some Viva Magenta. 

This was a perfect fit for all of that. It's a pattern from 1986 that I thrifted a while back. The price on the back for Canada is $6.75, which I think would have been a pricey pattern back in the mid-80s. And for such a simple design! The cover images look like there are some big shoulder pads in there, which I would have expected of a pattern of this vintage; however, there are none called for in the pattern. 

I used a half-made dress that I was given a few years ago. The rayon print is beautiful, and there are swirls of magenta in that print! I had first taken the bodice off and made a simple elastic waist skirt from this fabric but found I wasn't wearing it much in that form. And the print is too lovely to waste. Thankfully I had kept the bodice in my scrap bin, so I unpicked the skirt from the elastic and used that to cut the main body of the blouse. It was slightly too short on the left side of the pattern that had the button extension at the shoulder, so I ended up piecing a bit onto that side to get enough length. This print hides those extra seamlines well. 

I used part of the bodice to cut the collar pieces, and scraps from the skirt for the two small facings. There is still a little of the bodice left so I will reuse that in future! I dug through my button stash and finally decided on some plain black buttons that have a little extra with a white streak that runs through them. They were also from a big batch of random buttons given to me a few years ago. 

The blouse is a little shorter than designed (about 1/2") just because I had to fit it onto my skirt pieces. But I think it works. The front is fractionally shorter than the back but there are slits in the side seams so that's not an issue either! I cut a 14 at the neck and shoulder, and 16 the rest; however, I also added about 1/2" in width to the side seam, starting at the waist point and grading out to the hip. This shirt is basically a rectangle, so if I hadn't added that extra, it would have been too tight around my hip. 

I love this silhouette and may try one of the other views someday. The buttoned up one definitely caught my eye first, though, and I enjoyed making this simple, purely rectangular top that is a great piece for under a jacket. The original dress that I recut this from had some thin shoulder pads already covered in this fabric, so if I can find where I put them when I deconstructed this dress originally, I think I will add them in to give it just that touch more of the cover look!

Floral Set for Fabricville

My latest project for the Fabricville blog is a little different for me - instead of a dress, I made a two piece matching outfit! Now I have separates that I can wear together for the dress feeling, or break apart to wear in other combos. 

I saw this floral rayon online at Fabricville, but the online image was a bit deceiving -- it looked like it was all floral stripes, but when I received it, the stripes ran along either selvedge edge with the centre more of an open floral. If I would have looked more closely at all the images, I could have seen this ahead of time - but I didn't.  Fortunately the print and colours are very cohesive, but it did mean that I had to make some decisions about how to lay out my pattern and how to use the print effectively. I didn't want the wide band of stripes running horizontally at the bottom of the blouse so I held the fabric up to me and asked for some opinions and finally decided that the stripes would run vertically down the right side of the outfit. I usually tend to put decorative elements on the left so it surprised me that this just looked better to have the stripe feature on the right! 

This is a rayon voile, and it's very lightweight and shifty. It is super soft and smooth, and the colours are so wonderful bright and deep against the dark navy background. But it was tricky to cut since it is so slippery and light. I got it cut fairly well, but I am glad that the busy print hides any mild mismatches! 

The blouse, Butterick 6731, was not a complicated project. And I only made a few minor changes. I shortened the body by 1/2", but did not shorten the sleeves at all. I raised the point of the V-neck as I thought it would fall a little low on me, and I'm glad I did. I also narrowed the centre of the neckline and the centre back by 1/4" each. The biggest changes were with the back darts - I found them extremely long so pinned them in to test it out, as I did not think this fabric would appreciate any stitch unpicking. I ended up shortening the upper point by one inch and raising the lower points by 4 inches - I wanted to leave more room across my butt ;)  I then shifted the dart centre to just under halfway between, a touch closer to the lower point. That pulled in the excess across my back but left lots of movement across the hips. Because of this, I also omitted the side zip. I basted the side seam and tried it on to see if it would go on without a zip and it was very easy to do as long as I had the front ties untied. All in all, it took some fiddling but I really love it. It fits nicely and is a super soft and comfortable fabric to wear. 

I added a lightly gathered skirt, using a pattern from my stash, Simplicity 1542 (a pattern I actually bought for the jackets). I thought this skirt had the right shape to go with the blouse. I had to alter this as well; first to add some length to it (3.5") and secondly, recutting the waistband as it is designed to sit 1.5" below the natural waist. I prefer my skirts at my natural waist so altered it to fit at that spot rather than below.

I added a side seam pocket to the right side of the skirt as well - the left has the zip so I didn't bother fussing around with that. I'm right handed so the right pocket is the main one I use anyhow! I was grumbling about the wobbliness of the fabric while cutting and sewing, but I love how it turned out and think this will be a very wearable set. 

Spring Sewing Plans: Specifics

After looking at my remaining Fall sewing queue and setting up my Spring plans, I decided to pick a few specific patterns that I want to make next. I pulled a bunch of fabrics from my stash and got busy. 

You might notice a theme of sorts. I've made myself some blue & yellow masks and a lapel pin for myself and my spouse. And of course, Ukraine is on my mind every day. So I looked through my stash and found quite a lot of blues and yellows to use for my next projects. Some of them are ones I put onto my #MakeNine2022 list, and others are plans I made in the fall. One or two are new ones I've added to the list. So far this is what I'm queuing up for the next month and a half of sewing. 

This Vogue 8612 is one I picked up at a thrift store just for this great jacket. I'd matched it up with this small piece of wool gabardine (also from a thrift store, online) back on my Make Nine list. I've got it cut out with a fun piece of lining, too. First one up!  

This Belgravia Dress by Liesl & Co is on my list as part of a project for the Liesl & Co Advisors Circle. I saw this feather print knit in the stash and thought I'd match them up! 

Butterick 6708 is a pattern for a zip front jacket that I was planning on making last fall. I had this textured cotton fabric picked out for it so now is the time! I might make the skirt from this pattern, but might also use another t&t skirt with pockets. We will see. 

This very bright piece of lightweight linen will need to be lined, but I think that this simple summer dress from an old Burda magazine (late 80s) is the right match here. It will be a fun summer basic.

This blouse is another from my Make Nine list this year. Butterick 6488 has variations, but I'm choosing the front frilled View A (the one in white on the cover) for this royal blue rayon.

I had forgotten about this cotton sateen print but when I uncovered it I knew it would be a great fit for the Suki Dress from the Tilly & the Buttons book Make It Simple which I recently read and reviewed. A nice quick dress, hopefully, and it will match with the yellow jacket above if I get that made quickly too. 

Finally, an outlier -- as I was going through my stash I rediscovered this cotton canvas curtain panel that I found in a thrift store ages ago. It will be perfect for a boxy jacket -- not sure which pattern yet, I have a Burda pattern and a vintage 80s See & Sew pattern that both appeal to me. I'll have to check which works best with the print here. This is a traditional embroidery design from Western Ukraine, where my family originated, so I'm very happy to have found this print!

Basic Black: a New Look 6598 blouse

I realized as I finished my malachite green suit that I didn't have a good basic black blouse to pair with jackets. Lots of t-shirt styles but I wanted a blouse with collar. So I looked through my pattern stash and came up with this classic New Look 6598 blouse, with a wonderful collar option. 

I recently found a linen blend from my local Fabricland; it's semi-opaque and has a subdued shimmer to it. It was nice to work with although I had to be careful not to overpress. I bought enough for this blouse specifically, and I ended up making View A, the yellow long sleeved one on the cover, although I did change the sleeve length to 3/4, my preferred length. 

It was pretty easy, even with the unusual collar construction -- at least I wasn't familiar with the technique of insetting the back facing into the bottom of the collar facing piece. It turned out nicely, though, with some careful stitching and pressing. 

It's a short blouse, and I might lengthen it a touch if I make it again. As is it will be nice untucked with a blazer, which is what I was making it for. I was lucky to find some very lightweight black buttons of just the right size in my stash; this fabric couldn't sustain anything heavier. Fortunately for me, all my buttonholes went in smoothly, since I don't think unpicking would do this fabric any favours! 

The only thing I'm not entirely happy with is the width of the shoulders. The sleeve caps drop off my shoulders a bit; I think I could take 1/2" in on either side to narrow the shoulders. I don't know why I didn't check this - New Look has such wide shoulders in most of their patterns! Because of this I'm not fully satisfied with the sleeve caps either. My husband suggested taking the sleeves out and altering it -- which I probably should do. But will I? The eternal question.

I do like this blouse, though, and think that the fit and construction of this one will make it one I'll return to. I see a nice summer blouse with the cute notched short sleeves too. And that collar shape is so pleasing. 

Weekend Review: The Easy Guide to Sewing Blouses

 

Easy Guide to Sewing Blouses / Connie Long
Newtown, CT: Taunton, c1997
112 p.

This is another title in the Sewing Companion Library, and as always, it's a good one. Connie Long's book on jackets really helped me out with my last project, and now that I'm planning on making a handful of blouses to go with the blazers I'm making, it's time to investigate the tips in this book too. 

This book is really focused on more traditional blouses -- those kind of projects featured on the cover -- blouses that are made with lighter and silkier fabrics. It's not really about button down men's style shirts as much as more delicate ones. For example, in the section on plackets, there is no mention of a tower placket. Just a continuous lap or a slit, or finishing with a cuff or a row of buttons and loops; more traditionally 'feminine' styles. 

Because this topic is so huge there are just basics in each section for the most part, you're not going to find every single variation possible. But the intro talks about selecting fabrics and patterns to suit you, and then looking at the different techniques outlined in the book so that you can choose to do it in a way that makes sense to you from the various offerings. The author says straight up that there isn't just one way to do anything. 

The book is made up of sections on selecting a pattern and fabric, adjusting and modifying the pattern, marking and cutting fabric, and then 13 separate bits on techniques for different areas like hems, cuffs, plackets, collars, sleeves, pockets, closures and so on. 

There's a lot here to refer to and some handy tips in all areas. Like other books in this series, there is a lot packed into relatively few pages, heavily illustrated with photos in all sections as well. While I didn't find it quite as thoroughly laid out as the tailoring book in this series, I still think it's excellent value. As with the other books in this series, recommended. 

Black & White Remnant Blouse

I've started making pieces for my Fall wardrobe -- bright jewel tones are my theme, and black and white prints are my neutrals :) I made a Jalie Florence last fall with some great black and white cotton from Fabricville, and on looking into my stash I realized I had enough left over to make a blouse to go under jackets and sweaters. I tried out a few patterns, and found that this Burda 128-09-2011 fit perfectly.

I have had this pattern bookmarked for a while, and was happy that I could finally use it. The cotton holds the distinctive shoulder line pleats nicely and the cap sleeve means both that I could fit this onto my remnant and that the blouse sits nicely under a blazer. 

It looks pretty simple, but oh my, that collar construction! The shoulder seam is dropped to the front at an angle. There are two pleats that overlap to form the inner neck edge. And then you have what looks like a stand-up half mandarin collar. But how to attach it? Well, not the way I first tried. 

Left side: correct -- Right Side: Wrong!

I finally checked PatternReview and was relieved to find many reviews of this blouse, and one of them explains the collar construction very clearly. Once I read that I understood, but I don't know how long it would have taken me to figure it out otherwise! The collar isn't attached above the front neckline, but flush with it. The pleats are sewn onto the front edge of the collar, leaving the seam allowance at the top, and then the second collar piece is attached along the top and turned in, which covers up all the raw edges. Sheesh, how hard was that to figure out! When it's done, it hugs the back of your neck and sits flat against the body.

Other than that particular struggle, this one wasn't too hard. I cut my usual Burda size, 42 and grading to 44 at the hip. I measured the pattern, which looked very long, and took up an inch between shoulder and bust (just below the pleat markings) which shortened the deep armhole and moved the bust point up to where it should be -- I didn't want that first button to fall below the bust point! Now it sits exactly where it should be.

I also finished the armholes with some premade bias tape as I'd have had to piece quite a few tiny pieces from my scraps to make enough self bias. If I make it again and have a touch more fabric, I'd use self-bias - it just always sits more nicely, I think. The only other change I made was to topstitch down the pleat edges for about 1.25" from the shoulder line so that they didn't puff out weirdly. I like the way they lie now. 

And luckily, I had the absolute perfect buttons in my stash. Love the match. This is the first item to be finished in my fall sewing queue, but I still have one summer dress to share soon which is just waiting for its buttons. I'm starting my fall wardrobe with some of the lighter and easier pieces that I can wear now with my late summer outfits as well as with the planned fall clothes.

 I think this blouse will be handy with everything. Although I didn't get a picture, I realized that undoing the bottom 3 buttons allows the blouse to be tied at the waist in cute 60s style as well. Very versatile :) Another black and white top is on the sewing table, hopefully to be finished quickly!