I went into JoAnns earlier this week to look for some linen and I ran across this leopard print rayon challis. I just recently received the "Craig's Blouse" from Silhouette patterns and think this will be a perfect pairing.
However, Rayon challis is NOT my favorite fabric to work with. It doesn't hold its shape when you're working with it and it moves all over the place.
I prewashed the fabric and ironed it. I noticed that the selvedge had shrunk or pulled up a little, so I clipped it every couple of inches. If you don't do this, the fabric does not lay flat and your pattern pieces will be distorted. I have successfully used starch in the past, but I just wanted to get going on this.
Yesterday I traced out all the pattern pieces on Swedish tracing paper. I really like this because it is like medium weight non-woven interfacing. I wish I had space to hang my patterns, but I usually end up folding them back into the envelope, or a bigger envelope.
For this blouse, I cut a 2 in the neck, shoulders and sleeve. I cut a 3 from the bust down. I did a pivot adjustment to keep the armhole the same size. As I was tracing the sleeve, I noticed that it has a weird curve in it. I don't need the extra fullness here, so I drew a straight line and cut it. Uh oh - I hope I didn't accidentally trace the 2W! I better go check that!!
Well, it's all cut out. The last Silhouettes pattern that I made was a rayon crepe, and I did not use interfacing. This fabric, however is very unstable. The picture on the right shows something that typically happens with challis. When you lay out your cut pieces individually, they are often bigger than the pattern pieces. This is exactly why I chose to interface the collar, cuffs and front facing of this blouse. I really love Peggy Sagers's knit interfacing, and it will give just enough stability to these areas. Whenever I work with a fabric like this, I like to put the pattern pieces back on the fabric pieces and check for accuracy. 
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