Mar 17, 2013

The Chambray "I Should Have Listened to Phyllis" Blouse

First, let me acknowledge the few good things about this blouse I sewed this week, before I get into the shoulda, coulda, wouldas.

The fabric was a gift from Sonja of Gingermakes, who apparently knows my colors better than I do. I don't think I would ever have chosen this light brown chambray for myself, but it actually looks really nice with my hair, skintone and eyecolor. 

 I used Pattern Runway's Pussy Bow Blouse pattern, which I altered to accommodate my wide hips. I also added pockets (self-drafted), and constructed the center front slightly differently (folding it over instead of under to create a faux placket with topstitching in the men's shirt style). I think both of those details worked really well. I omitted the bow:



Thanks to the Singer Featherweight I have been sewing on, all of top stitching was perfection — not something I would have ever claimed when working previously on a crummy contemporary Singer:


I think it's a fairly lovely (if slightly boring) well-made basic blouse that fits me properly through the shoulders, bust AND hips — not something I could accomplish in any ready-to-wear blouse.

But then, my friends, there's the back: 

  
Here's where I should let helpful reader Phyllis weigh in with an "I told you so." Here was her sage advice upon seeing the alteration I made on the Pussy Bow Blouse pattern — which was perfect when sewing with a drapey silk, but not-quite-right in a heavier weight shirting like this chambray:
"The alteration you did for your chiffon blouse was perfect for that fabric, but notice there was also extra ease added all the way from the bust to the hip - and while it worked for a drapey chiffon it would not be optimal for a crisp shirting fabric for example.  Different fabrics require different alteration methods depending hand of the fabric."
Recall what it was I did, slashing and spreading to add ease to the hip (on both the front and back pattern pieces:

Here was Phyllis's very helpful illustration, which she emailed to me (how lovely that she actually cut out a miniature bodice pattern piece, and then slashed and spread it to make her suggestion so super clear!):

See how Phyllis' alteration slashes the pattern piece at the waist, and then spreads only below that point? So that ease is not added all the way up to the shoulder like in my alteration? Yeah, that would have been smart to do. I made my choice (the lazy route), but I can live with it. Perhaps I can add some after-the-fact darts in the back for a better silhouette:

I should definitely sew another variation of this blouse, using Phyllis' method to see how much better it would look. That would be scientific, wouldn't it?

What about you? Did you take any shortcuts this weekend? Will you live to regret them? Me, I hate looking back. Onward!

19 comments:

  1. gorgeous fabric and I love the details you added to the front!

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  2. Suzanne, can't you add two fish-eye vertical darts in back and take in some of that extra fabric, while adding some shape? That should help tremendously and it will be in keeping with the men's shirt styling that you're going for.

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    1. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I pinned it already and tried it on, just to test out what the results of vertical darts would be, and it looked pretty good.

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    2. No worries, I'm not the "I told you so" type having done something like this far to many times to count in my sewing life :) . Peter's suggestion is exactly what I would do too it will make a huge difference. The darts should taper to nothing about an inch below your waist and you can take a bite of 3/8 to 1/2 inch for each dart - any more than that could over-fit fit the back and the side seams might not be straight.

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  3. That IS a pretty color on you. It's a great basic and your topstitching is impeccable. Luckily, it's a fixable snafu. No big deal.

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  4. cute blouse! i'm glad you posted phyllis's suggestion, because that is an alteration i would definitely have to do!

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    1. When I try it, I will post again...but something tells me with my body, I would have to include darts in the back no matter what. My hip-waist ratio would likely result in too curved a side seam without darts to take out excess at the waist in the back. It would be distorted, I think.

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    2. I think most women need those vertical back darts on a top made from shirting because our bodies are so different from men's (well maybe Tilda Swinton and runway models can wear a true men's-styled shirt but that's about it.) Over the past few months I've been perfecting a shirt block for myself so I can just swap out sleeves,collar designs. The details on your shirt are so pretty that might be something to consider as well.

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    3. i'm GLAD you made it this way, we're all getting a mini course in how to fix it!!!

      the shirt is gorgeous, holy cow the topstitching is stunning. can't wait to see the new back...

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  5. Nice shirt Suzanne!

    Thanks for sharing Phyllis's drafting change to add to the hip. I have a tunic on the works and I need to this exact alteration. Thanks Phyllis and Suzanne.

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    1. I thought I would have a few pear-shaped readers who would appreciate Phyllis' advice as much as I did!

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  6. Wow this is beautiful Suzanne. The top stitching looks amazing and I also love that fabric.

    But wait, Sonja?? I thought Gingermake's name was, well Ginger! ha have I been calling her the wrong name all this time?? Oh man I really hope not, she's the sweetest person ever and here I'm calling her the wrong name!!

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    1. She is the sweetest person ever. And I dont think she minds anyone calling her ginger...it's her pseudonym. Perhaps I should be using it too!

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    2. Haha, it's totally my fault! I don't think it says anywhere on my blog that Ginger isn't my real name. I just didn't want my coworkers to google me and find the blog, but they found it anyway. :)

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    3. haha ok well good, I'm glad it wasn't just me who missed something completely obvious!

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  7. This looks great on you, and it looks so professional! Phyllis and Peter gave such great suggestions-- glad that you found a way to make this fit even better!

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  8. That chambray looks amazing on you! Sonja knows your complexion for sure!

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  9. Love the fabric, and would love to see how the darts change the shirt. :)

    -- Jessica

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  10. Despite the fit of the back, I still think it looks pretty awesome!!
    And THANK YOU to Phyllis for your alteration info!! Pinning it RIGHT NOW! I definitely need more room in that area and NONE in the bust, lol

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