Saturday, September 28, 2013

Mini Wardrobe - Piece 1 - Ottobre Buttondown Blouse

It has been a busy month and I have just come back from camping for a few days with my family.  It was lovely but it does mean I won't complete my entry in time for the Mini-Wardrobe Contest on Pattern Review.  However I will still show you my pieces as I get them done.

My first piece is the Ottobre Buttondown blouse 02-2013-3.


I made this with a beautiful piece of pedestal fabric that I have not been able to cut into in the 3 years I have owned it.  Finally my sewing confidence is at the level to use this piece.  It is a woven bamboo with a beautiful texture woven in.  It frayed easily so I did do french seams on the side seams but otherwise it was beautiful to work with.


As my fabric was so precious I did muslin this top first and the only pattern change I made was to shorten it at the waist about 2 inches.  Design-wise the changes I made was to sew it with a double yoke following the instructions in the Readers Digest Guide to Sewing (page 410) and to not sew a button or buttonhole onto the collar stand.  I would never do this button up and I think with all the thicknesses of fabric there I may be setting myself up for heartache to sew a buttonhole in that position.



The pattern is drafted beautifully and I think this resulted in the best collar and stand I have ever sewn.  I even managed to do it all by machine - no hand sewing!  I am sorry I have not got a close-up photo but the top is in the wash now.




Conclusion - love this blouse - the review is here.

Ciao!  back with the cardigan soon!

11 comments:

  1. Lovely. A holiday with the family has to beat finishing the PR contest?!

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  2. This looks like it would feel as light as a feather. It is beautiful! Good on you for being brave with your precious fabric. Its a great match and I would love to see a close-up of your collar and stand :)

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  3. Gorgeous blouse and so glad you made it in your precious fabric as it is a lovely combination.

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  4. This gorgeous fabric just shines through in your photos - a beautiful top.

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  5. Nice top Sue... I've never heard of pedestal fabric before but it looks and sounds divine.

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    1. Pedestal fabric is any fabric you place on a pedestal and cannot cut into ... well done on the pick-up!

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  6. Such a lovely fit and shape! The fabric does look very special and pedestal worthy :)

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  7. A perfect piece to build a mini wardrobe around. Also it's great that you got to use your pedestal fabric on something you can get a lot of wear out of, great job!

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  8. Oh Sue, it's beautiful. I can almost feel the lovely fabric through my screen. You'll get so much wear out of this one.

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Love to hear what you think...