This little top is my latest completed project - I feel like I've been a pretty lacklustre blogger and commenter lately, but there have been a lot of distractions round here. School went back, and I went back to work. We had some asbestos removed (scary) and then roof renovations, and meanwhile the weather has been pretty close to non-stop rainy except when it's just threatening rain with a low grey sky (where is our Sydney summer? I know we had one pleasant Sunday, but is that IT?), which does not go down too well when the front part of your roof is off and the latest tradie didn't know how to put a tarp on properly.
All the brown muck you see out there came off the roof I guess.
Let's get back to the subject.
When I saw this pattern for sale I barely hesitated. It's a Vogue Paris Original, and I'm pretty sure it's from the mid 80s (around when my mum made me a formal dress in a similar shape... I should show you that one day, but it wouldn't even fit on my dressform). I'd never seen this pattern around before, but I thought it looked like it would be gorgeous in a pretty silk, with a coordinating slip underneath. That's not what I've made though, is it!
You can see the pattern in my smug little mitts below:
Well that's because first up I had to confirm the pattern's credibility and sizing, isn't it!
I made the bodice as a little top with one of my Tessuti remnant sale pieces of fabric, a lovely lightweight great quality cotton. I don't know about everyone else, but when I make up these "test" garments, I still like to do it carefully with the hope that the end result will be a valuable wardrobe addition. So I went to some pains to match up the pattern over the button bands with the fabric of the front bodice. I didn't have enough fabric to get a match down the side seams but I think centre front is a place where matching or not matching a pattern is most striking... and I am seriously chuffed with how well the matching has worked.
Yes I know it's buttoning on the wrong side, but if I'd done it the proper way around the matching wouldn't have been perfect. I am not at all bothered that my blouse does up like a man's, to be honest.
Surprisingly for a little cotton blouse, it earned me TWO separate, unsolicited compliments when I wore it to work the other morning. The fabric is interesting up close, isn't it!
The sleeves are double layered, which means no sleeve hems:
Here are the stats:
Total cost = $41
$35 pattern (big gulp. Must have been really sleep deprived as I normally prefer a $10 max!). I really had better use this one again
$5? fabric from Tessuti's remnant sale last year
$0 thread (a couple of already half used spools)
$1 small pack of vintage buttons from my stash
Total time: 5 hours
Approx 20 minutes cutting out
About 4 hours slow-mo sewing* and pressing
About 10 minutes arguing with my sewing machine about sewing buttonholes
About 40 minutes of hand sewing where the inside layer of sleeve attaches to the bodice, + buttons
Here's some of that hand sewing on the inside of the sleeve:
* Slow-mo sewing : I often sew on a very slow setting because I don't really have enough light in my sewing corner and I really hate unpicking the mistakes I make when I sew fast. I'm also trying to savour the process...
