Today, I'm very excited to share my Meadowood Blouse with you. I made this blouse at the beginning of November, around the time of my birthday. I hadn't been sewing many things just for fun so I made up this blouse and a jumpsuit that I'm planning to share next week. It was really nice to get back to garment sewing and sew something just for me. This blouse has an oversized silhouette, grown-in sleeves, v-neck, front button band and a yoke with gathers. The oversized shape is reminiscent of my Lou Box Top pattern but the details in this blouse make it extra special.
This is a pattern by Straight Stitch Designs and the designer, Kimberly, very kindly sent me a copy of this pattern as gift. (I'm under no obligation to post about it, I just really loved the design and wanted to sew it up and share it.) Heads up for all of you #sewingtall – Straight Stitch patterns are drafted for a height of 5'9". Woohoo! As you may know, I'm 5'11" and my patterns are designed for a height of 5'10". It's pretty rare to sew a pattern where I made no height adjustments. Of course, height adjustments are not very challenging but it does make the process go faster.
The Meadowood Blouse pattern is for bust sizes 32-59.5 inches and has B-cup and D-cup options. I was trying to save on fabric so I selected a smaller size than the size chart calls for. The pattern has a lot of ease so I felt confident that I'd still get a good fit. I made a size 6 with a B-cup. My upper bust is 35.5" and my full bust is 39". That puts me in-between a sewing C-cup and D-cup. For fitted garments, I generally do an FBA but for this one I decided to skip it. The only risk to skipping it with an oversized top like this one is that the hem may lift up in the front and appear uneven due to the fuller bust. For me, it's usually not that noticeable. If you have a larger bust, then an FBA (or that included D-cup pattern piece) would help.
While we're on the topic of busts, the one thing I wasn't sure about with this design is the gathers over the bust. I don't always love how gathers look on me so I knew it was a risk with this design. There's something about gathers combined with my height and full bust that make me feel like I look like an overgrown child or that I'm wearing maternity clothing. The same design will look fantastic on other people but I just don't like it on myself. I have redone multiple garments to remove gathers that I did not find flattering on me. I'm very happy to say that I like the gathers on this shirt and don't think they look ridiculous on me. It was a relief, especially because I did not make a muslin for this pattern! Such a risk taker on this one.
I originally wanted to use this beautiful green floral rayon crepe that I bought as a remnant when I was in Helsinki last year. I don't have very much yardage and despite selecting a smaller size, I wasn't able to squeeze this pattern onto it. I maybe could have used the green floral fabric but it would have taken some serious work to cut everything flat and I just wasn't up for it. Instead, I used a different rayon fabric that I bought in Helsinki last year. This fabric is a delicate cream and black stripe and I believe I bought 2 yards. If you're interested in fabric shopping in Helsinki, I have a blog post about it here.
The only big change that I made to the construction was to use French seams. If you're not familiar with French seams, I have a video tutorial here. They make a really nice and clean finish with this delicate fabric. I used vintage buttons from my collection. I have so many buttons and I really enjoy getting to use them. One of these days, I should probably do a button hole tutorial as well as a pattern that has a button front.
I have not actually worn this blouse yet because it's a little bit cold for it right now and I don't have anywhere to go. I think it will be a great top to wear after lockdown ends and we get to go back out in the world. I do really love this blouse and had a lot of fun sewing it up. Thank you Kimberly for sending me the pattern! You can find the pattern in her shop here.
