Weekend Project: Sunglasses Required

Life is about using the whole box of crayons.

--RuPaul

I've been sneaking into my sewing room recently, and managed to finish a blouse from my queue! The end result reminds me of my first foray into interior design. I picked out a teeny-tiny little paint chip of the most beautiful pink and determined that this was the perfect color for the room.


You can probably imagine where this story is going...


Once the "beautiful pink" was applied, floor to ceiling, on all of the walls in the room, you needed to put on sunglasses before turning on the light! ;)


I thought those days were behind me, but I may have relived that experience with my fabric choice for this blouse pattern:



Regarding the pattern, I enjoyed making it. One feature I really liked was that the blouse is self-facing along the center front:



I was hoping that the "darts" along the waistline would be slimming. It turns out that they weren't darts at all, but rather were tucks. So there is no blending or merging at the edges - they just end abruptly.



The way the sleeve set-in was new to me. I'm used to shirts where the front and the back meet at the shoulder. For this pattern, the sleeve itself connects the front and the back and fills in part of the neckline.


Here you can see the seam-line joining the front and the sleeve:


And here you can see the seam-line joining the back and the sleeve. There was no seam along the top of the shoulder, although there was a dart in the sleeve at that position.


The instructions called for bias tape along the edge of the sleeve, to hold the elastic:



I ended up making the elastic 1/2 inch shorter than recommended, and it is still comfortably roomy on me (even pushed up just over my elbows).


Initially I was planning to put trim around the neckline. Once it was steam-a-seamed on, however, I decided that it was WAY too much. This led to a series of abortive attempts to get the trim removed. Don't let anyone ever tell you that steam-a-seam doesn't work! ;)


It was finally a tip from patternreview (here) that saved the day! Thanks, Leslie! :)


So, the top is done and I have worn it to work (over black pants).

It's hard to say if it's slimming or not, because people generally shy away and shield their eyes when I come into view...

But it fits and I'd definitely make it again! :)


Although, possibly in something just a tad more subdued... ;)


I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!