Peter pan collar blouse in taupe stretch silk charmeuse

Can y'all stand another silk blouse?

I made this one using Mood Fabric's stone stretch silk charmeuse. Originally I picked this fabric to use for a nightgown with some other pretty brown lace. This must have been before I wised to the practice of ordering swatches because the browns didn't match. I thought it would make a great neutral blouse for my wardrobe and it really does go with a number of other garments.

This was my first time using silk charmeuse with stretch and I love the ease of movement. I used the matte side for the body of the blouse because I thought the shiny side might be too fancy for my lifestyle. The shiny side can be seen when I roll the sleeves up slightly and also on the peter pan collar. At the back I used a button and thread loop for closure.

The pattern is Butterick 5817, which I made only a few months ago in a silk crepe de chine. This time around I used the peter pan collar applique. These types of collars are really in style, but I find most of them to be too prim and buttoned up for my taste. This one I liked because it still has a relatively normal rounded neckline. I don't like to feel choked!

I deviated from the instructions by slip-stitching the collar applique to the blouse instead of top-stitching it down. It looks more like a real collar this way. When it came time to stitch the neckbinding down to the blouse on the inside, I only used the machine at the center front and on the back. The rest was slip-stitched down as well. You can see the slight puckering resulting from my hand stitches on the close-ups.

I used french seams throughout except at the center back. After using french seams at the armholes of my white and black polka dotted blouse last month, I decided to try them out again. The sleeves went in without issue, and this will be my go-to method for attaching sleeves in silk blouses from now on.

Here's the blouse with the sleeve hem and bottom hem visible. On my previous blouse from this pattern I noted that the sleeve length was perfect without the need of attaching the cuffs. I didn't even cut them out this time around.



Whew! It's been an extremely frustrating month of sewing for me. I'm so happy to end on a positive note with such a pretty new blouse. You will probably see this pattern made up again a third time. Even though the example blouse on the pattern envelope is kind of ugly IMO, I still think that big bow applique could be really cute in the right fabric.

Burda 9-10-116 - Mustard yellow wool pencil skirt

It's been over a month since I last posted anything due to the disappearance of my sewing mojo. I think this happened to me a few years ago around the same time. Maybe I'm just needing a break after the business of the holidays. Well, I have managed to make a winter skirt using a pattern I've previously sewn that didn't require the making of a muslin.

After sewing my red leather version, I had no intention of ever making another one. The style is pretty unique. However, that other version is one of those skirts that migrates around my body every time I wear it. You know that kind of skirt, right? I don't know if I got the lining off grain or what. Also I didn't have enough leather to make the back vents so I have to take tiny steps when I'm walking. Getting in and out of the car is difficult. Consequentially it is now living in my "needs attention" area of the closet. Someday I hope to reuse the leather for another garment. Since I still really like the style of the skirt, I decided to remake it in a yellow wool crepe

This fabric was an online purchase several years ago. I can't remember exactly where I got it from. The lining (not pictured) is some inexpensive polyester stuff bought because it perfectly matched the wool crepe. Yellow is horrible about show-through, so I knew I had to match the color precisely. The matching zipper was ordered from Zipperstop.

The seamlines show up on this fabric much better then on the leather. At the back you can see the double kick pleats, which make this version much easier to move around in.

The pegged shape of this skirt won't fit over my dressform, so here are some close-ups on me:

I'm really happy to add this pop of color to my winter wardrobe.