Saturday, June 19, 2010

Short sleeved funked out peasant blouse

I had some very nice material left over from my horrible Burda wrap blouse attempt, so I made a short sleeved funked out peasant blouse from it (Lila Tueller pattern).
I left out the empire band as the fabric seemed better as simple and unembellished as possible, I thought. Imho, for those less blessed up top, like me, the bodice looks better with just the center neckline lowered by about an inch and a half (just adjusting the curve gradually back up to the unchanged shoulder line), and with the bodice made slightly wider (by an inch or two) to increase the gathering slightly. You can see the difference the change in neckline makes in the white version I did. Also, I turned over the sleeve hem and put elastic in the sleeves, rather than doing a fixed bias band. As I left out the empire band, I didn´t put any elastic around the join between the upper and lower front pieces, but I find that because I increased the gathering, and made the lower bodice quite fitted (ie, not loose like a tunic etc), it doesn´t slide up at all. In the white and pink versions I made, I found that putting elastic in the front sort of detracted from the clean lines of the top, because it gathers the lower bodice a bit, so I tend not to put elastic in the front anyway, and just put in the back empire band (if I include an empire band).
It made a real difference making this fopb from proper, light weight, shirt material, rather than the heavier weight, almost quilting-weight material that seems to be in alot of fabric shops these days. I wouldn´t make one of these from quilting weight fabrics again (like I unwittingly did for the pink version). make it wear it

6 comments:

Jennifer Hancock said...

I think you did a wonderful job on this shirt!!!! I would like to know how you put in the elastic in under the bust?

SewChicken said...

Thank you!! I wrote a bit more in the description above - I hope that answers your question. Let me know if not :o)

liz said...

cute top. i have wondered about that pattern. the fabrics she has it made up in on the computer are so young looking, that it turned me off. i like your solid simple shirt. the shape is really nice.

also- i saw your comment on my blog (me and t)

i love love the alabama stitch book and would love to get her new one too. highly recommend that one!

SewChicken said...

Thank you on both counts! Well, my birthday is next month, so I´ve asked for both the first and second book. I´m so looking forward to them.

Brittney said...

I think this version is the best yet. The other 2 were cute but this one is VERY flattering,the color and the shaping you have done to it. Nice job! Keep up the good work!

SewChicken said...

Thank you! Yes, I like this one the best too.