Back to wovens

Hello! Hope things are going well for you?  I’ve got a touch of the Sunday night blues: I’ve just had a week off to look after my elder daughter for the second half of the school holidays, and it’s the first time in a long time I’ve had both children on my own for a whole week.  It’s been great but very hard work!

So there has been limited sewing time available (and a healthy dose of exhaustion!) but I finally got some time yesterday to complete this project.  I’ve still got a couple of other things lined up to blog about, both stretchy patterns, but this one is a return to wovens.

I’ve had this pattern on my radar for a while now, but it’s actually got to the top of the pile because of another pattern I’ve purchased, the Deer & Doe Melilot.  I’ve been focusing on stretchy stuff recently, which has meant the challenge has been in the fabric rather than the number of pattern pieces, so I wanted something of an intermediary project before tackling something more complicated!

The quick fix in question is the Tilly Walnes Button Back Blouse from issue 22 of Love Sewing magazine.  I’ve had this on the radar since I got the magazine  – I even bought and pre-washed the fabric.  I went for a polyester crepe recommended in the magazine (most unusual for me, but it just appealed and wasn’t too pricey!)

I went for a size 12 as this is the size I usually buy RTW and that was the advice given in the magazine.  I think it’s pretty true to size.

Thanks to Mr RedW taking the girls to gymnastics and then the supermarket, I got a precious couple of hours on Saturday morning and then grabbed another couple in the evening and managed to finish in the day.  This included me taking the time to finish the seams on the overlocker (I’m getting really brave now!), which involved rethreading it (allow another half hour at least!)

The blouse involves 3/4 length, rather full sleeves, a button back and then a row of piping across the front between the yoke and bodice.  Despite going into Leeds purposely to buy ready made piping, I couldn’t find the bag when it came to it, so I ended up using this By Hand London tutorial to make my own piping.  I’m pretty pleased with this: it proved remarkably easy to do using cord and some bias binding.

I’m pretty happy with the end result; the crepe proved tricky to sew with as there was absolutely NO WAY it was taking any pressing, so forget nicely finishing darts etc, but that same property will mean that it won’t need ironing now it’s finished, so bonus there!  I like the detail of the buttons and piping that just break up the fabric a little.

The pattern results in nicely finished neckline, button band, hem and sleeve cuffs which means the overlocker was used to finish the sleeve seams, the neck facing, the side seams and the yoke seam.  I could have done french seams but I’m trying really hard to get to grips with the overlocker.  (Note to self: I set the tension to 4;4;5;6 for this, which is quite a bit lower than it’s been set for the jersey fabrics)

So, on to photos.  I should apologise for the slightly mad faces I’m pulling in some of these: I am getting used to the brand new shiny camera, tripod and remote function which works through my mobile.  I apparently am not yet used to the image being on my phone; bear with me whilst I work it out! At least the sun was out today!

The print is green and pink feathers on a black background: I chose the pink piping to coordinate.

Spot the mobile phone again!

I like how, although it’s not got much shaping, it’s not as loose as a lot of this style of top so it doesn’t have that maternity wear feel to it!

Slightly over exposed but there are the buttons: I might be tempted to go larger and brighter another time, live and learn!

You can see here that the sleeve cuffs get slightly stuck just under the elbows: I think this is about the only change I would make, perhaps just taking a 1cm seam rather than a 1.5cm.  Not a big problem though.

And for entertainment, here’s one showing how well I’m getting on with this whole remote control camera malarkey!  Hope your week’s been entertaining!

Becca x