I finished my Simplicity 1538 blouse this week, just in time for the Spring for Cotton finale!
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| 1948 Simplicity Blouse pattern and polka dot fabric. |
It all started with the yellow polka dot fabric, and the 1948 pattern that I have made twice before. Both of those are blogged on here. Well sort of. My
view 3 can be seen here, and my view 1 with short sleeves,
view 3 collar and no pocket can be seen here, at the end of the post.
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| Fabric, bias tape and the novelty buttons. |
I carefully chose some novelty buttons, for which I have a definite fondness, and opted to bind all my seams with a matching single-fold bias tape. (This makes for pretty seams, but I am definitely going to try some of the rayon seam binding next time!
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| Grading book, Grading ruler and pattern. |
Using
Connie Crawford's grading book and ruler, I graded my pattern up one size (that's a full 2 inch grading). It was definitely worth the money!
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| Fully graded pattern |
It was a little time consuming. I also messed up a total of three times before getting it right! The first time I hadn't done the lines correctly, the second time I was moving my pattern in the wrong direction, and the third time, I was using the wrong pattern piece. I learned though- yes I learned NOT to try doing this at night- after a long day!
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| After shoulder and side seams, with pinned on collar. |
Once I had the pattern pieces done, I was able to cut them out and start on the blouse pretty quickly. Some of that was thanks to the new rotary cutter and self-healing mat I purchased!
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| Bound seams and hem. |
I bound all the seams with single-fold bias tape, and used it for the hem too. I machine stitched it in place since it will always be tucked in. It does make for slightly bulky junctions, which is why I said I would love to try the rayon seam binding next time!
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| Still have the fronts, sleeves and collar to finish. |
I took my time. I refused to sew after about 8pm (which is when I start to get tired and mess up!), and the blouse gradually came together.
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| Buttons added to front. |
I was ecstatic when I got to add my buttons- they looked just as I hoped they would!
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| Everything but the sleeve hems! |
The last thing I did was the hems on the sleeves. Those are not bound, just double folded and hand-hemmed.
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| Finished blouse. |
And then I waited a few days to wear it! It's such a lightweight cotton, it is perfect for spring or summer wear. Here I am wearing it with my
1960s wrap skirt. The sun was rather bright this morning, so my hat is shading my eyes!
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| Blouse back. |
And a back view. Surprisingly, the seam binding helps give the sleeves a little shoulder structure- especially since I left out the shoulder pads. I had intended to make my own, but decided in the end to leave them out. I kind of like my blouse as it is!
There are a lot of side view photos of the blouse, because I apparently was unable to look directly into the sun for my photo!
While I am here, I thought it might be nice to take a peek at my sewing diary. I never know quite what to call these- notebooks, diaries, journals... but it is a handwritten record of the project.
I spent some time the other day trying to find other people's notebooks, and I pinned those I could find, but none were quite like mine.
Most of the time I record everything about the project on the blog, but that is not very convenient when I want to see something when I am sewing. So I decided to make a hard copy too. My notebook started out as a sketchbook, but I decided I didn't like that very much. It has no room to rearrange things!
Then I remembered the tiny 5" x 8" binders I had bought some time ago. I purchased some 5" x 8" index cards, and I was off.
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| Sewing notebook, front view. |
The binder is plain. I am still debating whether it will stay plain, or whether I will sew it a cover! I created tabbed dividers from some cardstock I had around the house. And I added some decorative tape to the tabs after accidentally writing on the wrong side of them!
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| The Simplicity 1538 blouse project pages. |
Currently I am dividing my notebook into categories- so far blouses, dresses, ideas and fabric. Or something like that - it will probably change. You can see the blouse project recorded above and below. I also added the issues I had with the fit of the other blouses and the changes I made.
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| And the rest of the blouse project pages. |
My former project recorded in the sketchbook, was my 4th July 1930s dress from a couple of years ago. I had the fabric, the pattern and my thoughts about it all down.
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| The 1930's 4th July dress. |
I stapled the old sketchbook page onto an index card, where I also glued a photo of the finished product- cool huh?
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| 4th July Dress completed project. |
Some fabrics in my stash are also recorded in here- so I can remember what they are and how much of them I have - and how to take care of them if they have special instructions for washing. This piece is a piece of rayon. And these were in the sketchbook too...
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| Fabric pages. |
I also have some pages of sketches and ideas there, but forgot to photograph those.
So there you have it, a quick view into my sewing notebook. I'm hoping I keep the habit up, because it is kind of fun having the resource at my fingertips!
