Thursday, May 6, 2010

Summer Blouses that were actually made by someone other than myself

Hello everybody,

I thought you might like to see some Summer Blouses (pattern found in Heather Ross' book Weekend Sewing) made by the students in my class that finished up this past Sunday.

Regular readers of this blog will remember that I've made so many of these little numbers.

Soooo many.

I thought it was time to impart my wisdom in class form and spread the happiness that is the Summer Blouse.

I'm just sorry that I didn't get a picture of everyone's finished blouse, but I did get a picture of Kate's blouse:























Didn't she do a great job?

Kate used one of my favorite Alexander Henry prints for this shirt (Yen Rose) and she walked away with a few yards of an older Heather Bailey to make another.

And here is a picture of Miss Lori and Miss Amanda, two of my favorite gals, sporting their new shirts:
























Lori (on the left) made her shirt out of a summery batik and Amanda (on the right) made her shirt from one of Anna Maria Horner's voile prints.

I love how this shirt looks good on everybody and looks so different depending on which print and fabric you use.

I have recently made one in voile and also one in double gauze and I love them both!

I recommend using a brand spanking new, smaller-size needle (a size 70/10 is what I used) if you are making the blouse from a voile, a double gauze or a batik, as the small sharp needle will glide through the fabric like buttah.
























My biggest tip for making this shirt is to buy 2.5 yards of fabric (not the 1.5 yards recommended in the book), and pre-wash and dry the way you normally would wash and dry your clothes.

Also, unless you are very short you will probably need to lengthen the pattern.

I am 5'2" and very short-waisted and I have lengthened my pattern by about 2" and just do a small, rolled hem.

Thanks to all of the ladies in my class: I was so pleased with how everyone did and you should all be very proud!

XO,

Rhea

2 comments:

Liz said...

So pretty and unique!

MadeByMeaghan said...

So nice! I'm glad for the yardage recommendation. I think this is going to be my next project!