The Sewing Gods Giveth and the Sewing Gods Taketh Away

This blouse is from the plus-sized collection of BWOF 07/2008. It has many design features: front patch pockets, side slits, princess seams in front, center back seam, and top-stitched front vertical darts.

I'm getting better with BWOF instructions. The collar and front bands were assembled in the same way a jacket collar and facing are sewn and I actually got that from reading the instructions - without pictures. Usually, with a blouse, the front bands are sewn on and then the collar unit. In this blouse, the collar was not treated as a single unit. In this case, first, just the outside band was sewn to the front, then the under collar was sewn to the neckline. Next, the upper collar and inner band were sewn together and this collar/front band unit was sewn to the under collar and outer band. Of course, I could have used the familiar conventional method. But, I like to learn BWOF's construction methods. Usually, there is a method to the perceived madness.

I used a microfiber for this blouse. My jury is still out on microfibers. They look like silk, one of my favorite fabrics, but they are very dense. I didn't use a microfiber needle, but only because I didn't have one. I'm sure sewing through such a dense fabric dulled my needles faster.

I had high expectations for this blouse. It turned out well, but not without sacrifices. As usual, I loved the BWOF design details; particularly the pockets, the princess seams, and the top-stitching on the darts. The big issue with this blouse was the sleeves. I preferred long cuffed sleeves, so I did a major design change. I was concerned because I'm not used to making major design changes. The sewing gods gave me the sleeves I wanted. But the sewing gods demanded a sacrifice. The front darts gave the blouse a "fitted" silhouette. I don't have the midsection for fitted silhouettes so I had to give up the darts, which were one of my favorite features, by ripping them out - stitch by stitch of the top-stitching and stitch by stitch of the darts. Unfortunately, the needle holes didn't magically disappear with steam.

The pockets were more than I expected. What looks like topstitching in the technical drawing is actually a bias strip! (I love the way BWOF surprises me.) My edgestitch foot is my favorite foot so the narrow strips were not a problem. I used tape to hold the strips in place so that pins would not interfere with the edgestitch foot. The pocket was cut on the fold. The edges were finished when the pocket piece was folded, right sides together, and the edges sewn and turned right side out.

I don't often make patterns more than once; not because I don't like the patterns well enough. I just don't make patterns more than once. But, I will probably make a warm weather version of this blouse. I'll use a more breathable fabric and keep the 3/4 length sleeves. I have coordinating pants planned for this blouse. It took a long time to complete the blouse and I wanted to analyze it while the experience was still fresh.