Day in the office

Let me tell you a secret - every girl need a silk blouse! You put in on and feel like you can do anything! So when I know I'm going to have a tough day in the office this blouse is my secret weapon!

The blouse was made using the vintage inspired pussy bow pattern from the Great British Sewing Bee book. It is my second make using a pattern from that book - both are quite successful! The instructions are amazing, I didn't have any problems putting the blouse together. There are only two things I'd change if I ever make this top again - the instructions don't tell you to interface the edges where the buttons and buttonholes go. It looks a bit messy! The other thing I completely missed is the fact the blouse is designed to have drop shoulders. They never look good on me, so I had to adjust the armhole shape. It did affect my sleeve length and they ended up on a short side. I made size 16 with no alteration other than the shoulders. Size 14 with an FBA would probably be better - I was just too lazy to adjust the pattern.

I wasn't sure if the blouse like that would suit me so I chose to make it out of some dotted charcoal silk I got during one of the fabric sales. It was my first time working with silk but it was surprisingly nice to work it. Luckily it's not of of those super-shifty ones! Microtex needles helped a lot and kept the stitching nice and even.

I do like this blouse more than I expected I would! I usually wear the ties loose, I think it works better for me that way. I also learnt a bit about handling more slippery and delicate fabric that I'm not used to. So I guess it is a win-win for me - I got a nice silk blouse that cost me under $10 and learnt a lot during the process!

Sydney blush

This top is a huge surprise to me - I wasn't sure about the fabric, the pattern and their combination! This beautiful rayon piece came from Tessuti Fabrics in Sydney - I absolutely loved the shop but the prices were a bit out of my range. Because of that I only got 1,5m of this blush-pink and grey fabric and I'm not even sure why! I usually don't go for pale colours and I wasn't sure if they would work on me.

The pattern comes from Burda. Blouse 131 from May2014 magazine and I've been meaning to sew it for a while. I remember I had it traced at some stage and even the fabric was cut but I can't seem to find it anywhere! Anyway, the weekend before Christmas I decided to make myself a new top ;)

I had to do my standard 5cm full bust adjustment and I added it to the shoulder gathers. I used burrito method for the yoke as I love the clean finish it provides! After trying the top on I decided to take it in a little bit - I think 3 cm on each side. It sits nicer now.  While sewing the top wasn't too hard I must admit that Burda instructions are ridiculous! "Construct sleeve vents" or "attach the neckband" are the perfect example. Really Burda? A little bit more a hand holding would be welcomed here. Luckily the week before I made continuous sleeve placket so I knew what to do. The neckband was a bit of a trial and error. I machine stitched one side and the stitched the other side by hand. Because of that I had more control over the pointy ends of the neckband. It's not perfect but not too bad either.

I used some white pearl buttons from my stash and surprisingly my sewing machine had no problems with the button holes! I also realized I don't have to unbutton the blouse to put it on so I stitched the overlapping neckband pieces together (after the photos were taken) as it was gaping a little bit. I hemmed the top using my rolled hem foot - I need a bit more practice with it as the hem is a bit uneven.
Overall I think I like this top. I was worrying that the gathers in the bodice and puffy sleeves wouldn't look good on me but they somehow work. Even the colours seem to be ok and I think this top will be perfect for summer. And it will work well as office wear once I start working again ;)