The Ghost Blouse

I finished this today, and it took me way longer than it should have. Here is what the "ghost" did"

1. I know I cut the front of this blouse out correctly. When I went back to work on it the next day, the entire top (about 12") of the fronts was missing on both sides! I fixed this by adding a yoke to the fronts.
2. The iron dropped on the floor again.
3. Numerous pieces were cut wrong side out. I fixed one of these pieces by embroidering over the left front yoke.
4. My machine started sewing in circles (OK, it was a bent needle - but I've never seen that happen before.)
5. My collar pieces all lined up perfectly last time and I had nothing but trouble with them this time.
6. Since I had redrawn my pattern pieces after I made changes last time, I decided to tissue fit the pattern again. It seemed way too tight in the hips, so I added 2" all together. After I made the blouse, I realized I did not need to add any at all.

All in all, I really like this blouse. the fabric is really nice and I'm loving the buttons and the button detail. I had to do a lot of "fixes" on this one, but I'm glad I did. I could have "gotten by" without fixing a lot of the little things - maybe no one else would have ever known, but I would have, and that kind of stuff drives me crazy sometimes.

Anyway, I'm keeping this short and sweet - I'm anxious to get back to sewing my next bra! I received another order from SewSassy and also had ordered some lace on ebay. I'll post pictures later.

I'm impressed with tissue fitting

After tissue fitting the blouse, I went ahead and cut it out. I was going to make a muslin, but isn't the whole point of tissue fitting relief from the muslin? I was brave. I cut my "good fabric" but left 1" side seams just in case (as Patti suggested) Then, remembering what we had learned at PR weekend and what I had seen on the P/P pants fitting video, I pin- fit the blouse next. From pin fitting I could see that I needed to take in A LOT in the side seams at the waist. Although this is a fairly straight fitting blouse (very little curve in the side seams and no darts) it looked like a big sack. I ended up taking in TWO INCHES at each side seam at the waist and tapering out again to the hip. Next time I will need to add a little bit more at the hip as well. Either that or get my sorry butt to the gym!

I could also see in the back view that I needed to take a bigger sway back adjustment. It's too late for this one, but next time I will do that. Since I let out the side seams at the hip a little and took in the waist, the wrinkling in the back isn't nearly as bad as it is in this photo.

After I pin fit the blouse, I basted the side seams with the new curves I added. At this point, I could see that somehow I managed to get the right dart much lower than the left dart. I also had made one dart longer than the other. So, I ripped out the basting (This is why I baste!) and re-stitched the dart and tried it on again. Much better. I could also see that the neckline was too high and the shoulders still too wide. I took a little off of these areas and forged ahead.

I'm always a little worried about collars with bands because although they look much nicer, mine don't always turn out well. Well, this one turned out perfectly! I was so happy. So happy that is until I pinned it on the shirt only to find that the band is about 1/2 inch too short on both sides! I couldn't believe it! I checked my alterations and pattern pieces and couldn't see where I had made the neckline any bigger. I thought maybe it really stretched out (I must remember to stay-stitch those necklines!) But, then I walked the pattern pieces, and sure enough, the band is too short. It lines up perfectly from the CB to the shoulder seam, but the front edge is 1/2" shorter than what it should be. Well, good thing I had extra fabric to cut a new one. Of course, I didn't have any more of my Perfect Fuse interfacing of the right weight pre-shrunk and I didn't want to wait while that shrunk and dried, so I used another interfacing instead. I think it will be OK.

I also basted the sleeves and although they fit fine the way they are drafted, they were a little snug for me, so I let them out about 3/8" at the side seams. Because of this, I took an additional tuck at the sleeve bottom in order for the cuffs to fit. So, instead of having 2 pleats near the placket, I have 3.

I haven't done a sleeve placket in a long time and I wasn't quite sure what the BWOF directions were saying, so I pulled out my Readers Digest sewing book and followed their method for a continuous placket. It turned out pretty well.

I'm really loving the fabric of this blouse. It is all linen with a gold lurex thread running thorough it that makes the fabric look metallic. It's a soft ivory-gold. The funny thing is that it only looks metallic on the right side, but the inside is just regular soft linen, so I think the shirt will be comfortable to wear. All I have left to do now is the buttonholes and buttons. I won't be doing double buttons as is shown on the line drawing because I have 9 beautiful buttons that I want to use. These are beautiful vintage buttons that Birgitte picked out for me to use on this fabric. I'm planning on finishing this sometime this weekend and then I will show pix!