My vision, in silk crepe de chine

So when I saw Sunni’s outfit here, I completely fell in love with that silk print fabric. I needed it, so I bought 2 yards from Mood. And…it sat in my stash for months. I had an idea in mind, but no amount of searching in pattern books and independent designers yielded what I wanted. This pattern (Simplicity 1692, view A) came the closest, but with some issues (the primary problem being those waist darts!).

I used the bodice and sleeves of the pattern (size 10) and made all kinds of changes: for the neckline, there are some soft pleats instead of gathers, then for the sleeves, I reduced the fullness of the sleeve so there were unnoticeable gathers at the cap, shortened them to 3/4 length and added a tiny band. I eliminated the waist darts entirely, and then took in the sides to make it more shapely while keeping it loose enough to avoid a closure. Then, when I realized I had “petite-adjusted” the top too much, I added a 2 1/2″ band at the waist. Which I ended up completely loving. Is it just me making the best of the situation, or does it make the blouse a touch more modern?

Things I love about this blouse: the back has shoulder darts. I feel like shoulder darts acknowledge that our backs are also curved, and they create such a lovely fitted shape. They’re lacking in many modern patterns.

Another only-in-handmade-garments feature I love: self bias along the keyhole facing.

And this self-fabric button THAT CAME FROM MY STASH? Somewhere along the way, I purchased a garment that came with extra buttons and those buttons were covered with cream colored crepe de chine, as if I knew I’d be making a silk blouse in the future.

Speaking of which, could I love crepe de chine any more? No. The answer is no. It’s my favorite of the silks.

This blouse reminds me why I sew. Got fabric and an idea? Add some sewing skills, and bam, you get a blouse. I bought some navy stretch twill to make some cigarette pants to complete the vision.

Resewlution 2015: March garment #2

9 thoughts on “My vision, in silk crepe de chine”

What a fabulous top! It's perfect.

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Love it.

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And you sure do have the skills! I'm impressed with you pattern placement as getting the big pink or red flowers in the wrong place could have been disastrous.
Very, very nice.

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This is a lovely blouse. You have a good eye for combining beautiful fabric with the perfect pattern.

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Lovely job on the keyhole!

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so pretty, I have silk blouses on the brain lately 🙂 guess it is spring.

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What a cute blouse. I love your choice of fabric and prints, too! I have the same pattern but have never made anything out of it. Now seeing this pattern in real life I know what my next project will be! 🙂

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