Success is great. It makes you feel accomplished and proud, there is nothing like the euphoria of successfully finishing any endeavor you take on in your life, including sewing. However, I think failing and falling short are just as much and just as important parts of life as success is. Failure and struggles have an incredible lesson to teach if one is open to it. I don't want to create an unrealistic view of myself and my life here, so I think sharing my failures is important. On that note, I will start keeping track of them here with a Fail Friday, whenever I have a photographed failure to show that is! I had a lot of hopes for this blouse. The design is very beautiful and has a lot of potential. The pattern came from BurdaStyle magazine from May, 2009. The link is in Russian, as unfortunately this pattern is not available in English, and I apologize to those who can't read. To make it easier though, here is the technical drawing of the blouse:
It is a rather easy make and I've actually already made the same blouse back in 2009 when I first came back to sewing after a break. I loved my first blouse but I didn't pick the right fabric for it. Well, the fabric was right but the color and the shine level of the bright blue stretch satin were all kinds of wrong for me. To top it off, the blouse was a little tight in my shoulders. I still wore it though and I was happy with it for a bit.
Fast forward to late 2015, I decided to make another version of the blouse. I picked a colorful polyester blend, which doesn't show the yoke or pleat detail very well, but I think still looks nice. I've made some adjustments to the pattern - I widened the shoulders and slightly shortened the length of the blouse. I didn't make a muslin, seeing that this is my second version of the pattern and I felt I was aware of what needed to be changed.
It was an easy make! It came together fast and soon I was able to try it on. Unfortunately, the blouse was off. Even with my widened shoulder, it was still too tight in the shoulder, back and chest. The pleats didn't lie smoothly and were opening up in a rather unflattering way. I also think the length of the blouse ended up being a little short for my liking. You can see that in all the pictures I am sloping my shoulders forward a bit to make sure the blouse hangs well enough for the photos.
What went wrong? Well, in hindsight, I think the fabric I used for my first blouse had stretch in it and the adjustment that I thought I needed would have worked for a similar fabric but it didn't translate well into non-stretch fabric. If I am to make the blouse again, I probably should go up in size and muslin it fist to make sure the pleats and shoulder are where they should be.
I think the length is important too. I made my blouse long enough for the wear, but the final length does not seem to sit well with the proportions of my body. I prefer when the length of my top stops right around my widest hip. It seems to be more pleasing on the eye and elongates my body into a slimmer shape.
All in all, this blouse is made well, but I have only worn it once. After having it sit in my closet for a few months I have finally given it to my slimmer and smaller friend. I am sure she will give it much needed wear.
Love,
Anya
Success is great. It makes you feel accomplished and proud, there is nothing like the euphoria of successfully finishing any endeavor you take on in your life, including sewing. However, I think failing and falling short are just as much and just as important parts of life as success is. Failure and struggles have an incredible lesson to teach if one is open to it. I don't want to create an unrealistic view of myself and my life here, so I think sharing my failures is important. On that note, I will start keeping track of them here with a Fail Friday, whenever I have a photographed failure to show that is! I had a lot of hopes for this blouse. The design is very beautiful and has a lot of potential. The pattern came from BurdaStyle magazine from May, 2009. The link is in Russian, as unfortunately this pattern is not available in English, and I apologize to those who can't read. To make it easier though, here is the technical drawing of the blouse:
It is a rather easy make and I've actually already made the same blouse back in 2009 when I first came back to sewing after a break. I loved my first blouse but I didn't pick the right fabric for it. Well, the fabric was right but the color and the shine level of the bright blue stretch satin were all kinds of wrong for me. To top it off, the blouse was a little tight in my shoulders. I still wore it though and I was happy with it for a bit.
Fast forward to late 2015, I decided to make another version of the blouse. I picked a colorful polyester blend, which doesn't show the yoke or pleat detail very well, but I think still looks nice. I've made some adjustments to the pattern - I widened the shoulders and slightly shortened the length of the blouse. I didn't make a muslin, seeing that this is my second version of the pattern and I felt I was aware of what needed to be changed.
It was an easy make! It came together fast and soon I was able to try it on. Unfortunately, the blouse was off. Even with my widened shoulder, it was still too tight in the shoulder, back and chest. The pleats didn't lie smoothly and were opening up in a rather unflattering way. I also think the length of the blouse ended up being a little short for my liking. You can see that in all the pictures I am sloping my shoulders forward a bit to make sure the blouse hangs well enough for the photos.
What went wrong? Well, in hindsight, I think the fabric I used for my first blouse had stretch in it and the adjustment that I thought I needed would have worked for a similar fabric but it didn't translate well into non-stretch fabric. If I am to make the blouse again, I probably should go up in size and muslin it fist to make sure the pleats and shoulder are where they should be.
I think the length is important too. I made my blouse long enough for the wear, but the final length does not seem to sit well with the proportions of my body. I prefer when the length of my top stops right around my widest hip. It seems to be more pleasing on the eye and elongates my body into a slimmer shape.
All in all, this blouse is made well, but I have only worn it once. After having it sit in my closet for a few months I have finally given it to my slimmer and smaller friend. I am sure she will give it much needed wear.
Love,
Anya