'The emergency exits are located here, here and here...'

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Arghhh, I've done it, I've started the DREAM BLOUSE!

I spent soooo long trying to pick a fabric that was just right. I went to the shops with red-spots-on-white in mind, a bit like an inverted version of Handmade Jane's lovely version which can be found here... but no success. So I just went all out and bought this incredibly retro 100% cotton - scroll down for a closer look. I'm probably going to end up looking all retro air hostess like the model on the cover of the pattern, but oh well, I think that's a look I can handle.


I behaved like a very studious little dressmaker and read all of the instructions before beginning. It's a good job as well, because you had to fold RIGHT sides together when cutting out the fabric - that's not something I've come across before, it might not have made too much difference anyway, but I followed it word for word.


Then came the boring, time-consuming bit - transferring all of the pattern markings. Lots and lots of dots, a fair few darts, and notches galore.


Then the sewing... which so far, has been pretty straight forward. Me/my machine struggled a bit with the more complex front and back darts. Part of this is because my machine is a mini Janome for beginners. It really struggles with taking up fabric/gripping it properly, making it much harder to sew in straight lines, hummppphhh. The other part is down to me - I pinned my darts but didn't tack them into place and now they're a bit wonky. Lesson learnt, tacking is imperative and I'd better not get too big for my boots now.


All being said with the darts, it doesn't actually look too bad at all! I've just pinned the collar into place on this picture to give an idea of what it will look like. There's a neat little opening in the centre front seam just above the bust, and one at the back, which will fasten with a button and loop. It also has a side zip, something I completely didn't realise at first (didn't read the instructions that well did I?!) so I had to make a return visit to shops to pick one up.

But now for the BOW! Ohhh the bow <3

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