I'd seen a lovely white blouse while I was out shopping a while ago and fallen quite in love with it, but somehow because it was made from such a simple cotton I felt too guilty to part with so much money when I knew that I could at least attempt to replicate it in some way. I never feel that way about buying jeans or knits (thankfully)...but somehow cotton always foxes me into feeling this way now. Happily my local fabric shop had this lovely dobby cotton and so I made this top last month and wore it quite a lot before the weather turned cool again.
The fabric very much dictated the style of the blouse - its sheerness meant that I'd either have to line any top that I made, or create some sort of feature to thicken the fabric over the bust. Lined tops never feel quite as lovely to wear somehow, so I decided to create some pintucks and designed the rest of the top around that. The pintucking ended up working just as I'd hoped and dignity is preserved and the gathering at the front means that no tummy buttons are on display either.
Finished pintucks on the left, lines waiting to tucked on the right. |
Muslin toile |
The sleeve is gathered at the cuff and then bound with a strip of dobby bias. I finished the neckline in the same way (although without the gathering).
My favourite thing about this top though is that my husband says that he thinks it's the nicest thing that I've ever made for myself. But alas...I whipped up another late one evening in one of my favourite fabric prints ever and we both agreed that I look like a gargoyle with a mass of pattern near my face. I think that if I de-sleeve it and lower the neckline so that the intensity of the pattern is diluted by some (pasty white) skin then perhaps it can be salvaged...we'll see.
In other news: Susan & Adrianna of Crafterhours very kindly invited me to write a guest blog post for them all about skirts to celebrate the start of their two week skirt fest. You can find my blog post here and you can find rules for entry here - you have until June 15th to make a last minute entry and I should implore you to do so as there are some fabulous prizes to be had...as well as the glory, which is of course the main thing. I will be on their panel of judges too - hurrah and as will become apparent if you read my post for them, have been scouring the Flickr pools for inspiration for my own sewing. I had also meant to blog about Made by Rae's long-gone Spring Tops week too (which I also judged - it's all over now, but there's so much top goodness to be found in the Flickr pools for that) but my blogging ended up being thin on the ground last month and somehow it didn't happen. Ho hum...hopefully my poor attendance rate here will improve for a good end of term report.
Happy mid week to you,
Florence x
It's a great shirt! You did a wonderful job on it. It looks like the perfect thing for warm weather - cool, but still keeps the sun off you.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice blouse! I've been wanting to experiment with pintucks but I was going to do them differently: my sister gave me a pintuck foot for m machine at Christmas. Apparently you use a twin needle and tighten the thread afterwards?? The foot has grooves in to guide each tuck parallel to the others. Ever done them like that?
ReplyDeleteWhere have you found voile weight muslin?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful design. You found the perfect fabric. I have a pintuck presser foot that works with a twin needle and would highly recommend it!
ReplyDeleteIt gorgeous - you clever thing, those pintucks are heavenly!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I wish I could sew more than cushion covers ....
ReplyDeleteI love the simple details you used to make the shirt have some coverage, great idea. Also I love pintucks on anything, so that's an automatic hit.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful shirt, Florence, and I enjoyed reading your blog post. Good to see you back!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shirt with lovely details. I enjoyed he skirt post too- it is all about the details especially with homemade clothing,
ReplyDeleteYou always make the nicest clothes Florence! I love this shirt it's very feminine and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shirt - I love the pin tucks!
ReplyDeleteLovely shirt, Florence. The fabric is perfect - need some more hot weather now!
ReplyDeleteThat's a gorgeous shirt, I love it! You are very talented and I love reading your blog! Em x
ReplyDeleteThis is such a lovely blouse. And it's so nice to have a post from you - I've been missing them!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous top Florence. I'm sure you have already thought of this but I usually wear a dainty strap vest underneath sheer tops, I love the layered look it gives. M&S do them with adjustable sphagetti straps for the perfect fit.
ReplyDeleteAlso pleased to see a new post, have missed your updates. My favourite posts of yours are always those that show craft elements (pencil rolls, make up bags, cushions, quilts etc) in context of family/life. I loved the post where you made a beautiful fabric Christmas advent calendar and took the children on a sledge to hand deliver it... so delightful! Other memorables include the laundry liner for your mother with embroidered message at the bottom and the tissue holder with embroidered writing by your children. Such lovely ideas. Can you please consider bringing out a book?
Your shirt is fantastic, I love the pintucks and that fabric you chose. Thanks for featuring my buttons and piping detil on your guest post too!
ReplyDeleteIt's absolutely lovely and I know just what you mean about the dreaded muslin, I only bother if I really HAVE to!
ReplyDeleteKate
Your shirt is beautiful! I love pintucks but have not attempted to do any yet.
ReplyDeletewhat a lovely shirt, it's fab!!
ReplyDeleteI love how neat your pin-tucks are, I've not tried them yet but after seeing yours I'm going to add them to my list :)
I love the blouse and the dobby print is so right for it. It is amazing how a style looks so different in another print though. Thanks for the hint on pin tucks (I am waiting for my order for those pens to come in the post)
ReplyDeleteSo I'm the only person in the world who doesn't have a pintucking foot? That makes me feel so much better as I'd always felt that I had an excessive amount of feet...do I need this one? Do you still have to mark your fabric or does it somehow leap over that step?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the shirt love and all of your lovely comments.
Radmall, I bought it locally. However, it doesn't have a hand like voile, it just has a weight like voile if you see what I mean? I would have thought it's reasonably easy to come across from anywhere that has a good range of muslin.
Anonymous - that's really kind - thank you so much!
Florence x
Hi Florence!
ReplyDeleteI love white shirts and I love your shirt dizzingly lot! My keyboard is in danger of short circuiting because of dribbles...What can I say more...covetable to nth degree!
Thank you for posting about pintucks. I bought a lovely white linen blouse with pintucks from Gap a few years ago and it has had so much wear that it has started wearing through in some places!
ReplyDeleteI naively thought oh Gap will always have something like this in as I used to like a lot of there things but could only afford a couple each season. How wrong I was - I haven't bought anything for about 18 months as the quality and designs are not as good.
So I thought I might try and remake my linen shirt and maybe I won't be scared about making the pintucks anymore now I have seen you make some :-)
Thank you for posting about pintucks. I bought a lovely white linen blouse with pintucks from Gap a few years ago and it has had so much wear that it has started wearing through in some places!
ReplyDeleteI naively thought oh Gap will always have something like this in as I used to like a lot of there things but could only afford a couple each season. How wrong I was - I haven't bought anything for about 18 months as the quality and designs are not as good.
So I thought I might try and remake my linen shirt and maybe I won't be scared about making the pintucks anymore now I have seen you make some :-)
I simply love your top. The fabric is gorgeous and your finishes superb. I wish I could find similar fabric somewhere!
ReplyDeleteWow what a beautiful shirt...have you though of maybe making a pattern for it? I would love to make one similar, but I have a hard time findingnice fabric as you seem to have.
ReplyDeleteThank you!