Sew For Victory: The Finished Blouse

Complete 1940's Blouse using Simplicity 3715

Sew For Victory - The Final Results

Well there is good news and bad news. Allow me to start with the good news, I have completed the blouse for submission in the sew along. It is very pretty. It's a chiffon blouse with a detachable collar. What's the bad news? After attaching the sleeves and the shoulder pads it doesn't fit comfortably any more. It creates too much friction under my armpits (and although chiffon is usually fun to touch it can get pretty irritating when rubbing against the skin). I suppose if I make this pattern again I'll be making an alteration in the back, near as I can tell there isn't enough room across the back which is causing the pull beneath the armpits. It's my fault, I didn't make a solid muslin to detect fit issues.

There is hope, mind you. I will be removing the sleeves and binding the armholes, turning it into a sleeveless blouse. I will remove the shoulder pads too, so it will look a bit "slouchy" but I rather like it that way. I also plan on sewing a detachable collar out of satin, because the chiffon collar doesn't sit correctly and looks rather plain when paired with my snazzy little buttons.

I put a lot of work into this project and aside from fit and design issues I'm happy with the results. I learned new tricks and I'm not as terrified of chiffon as I used to be! I'll be posting a review on this pattern as well as sharing my new knowledge of chiffon on my new blog, which I will launch within the next day. I hope everyone had fun during this sew along! :)

Happy sewing. ♥

French Seams, Lace Hem and Chiffon Bias Binding

Sew For Victory: The Incomplete Blouse

Unfinished Business

Sadly today is the last day for Sew For Victory and I'm officially out of time. It has been a long and crappy month for me. Let's start at the beginning...

When I first heard of the Sew for Victory sew along I was really stoked about it. I had just received two 1940's patterns and was eager to put them to use but sadly I didn't have enough material for either of them. Not wanting to spend more money on fabric (finances are tight) I ventured to the thrift shops and picked up two beautiful meters of vintage floral printed chiffon from 1995. I got it for three dollars. I was instantly in love with it but I was stuck without a pattern. Being ambitious I decided I would self draft a pattern. The design I came up with is pictured below this paragraph - pardon the weirdness, I felt she looked like Alice in Wonderland. I did complete my pattern drafting and so far it works well for jersey but I kept having issues when altering it for chiffon. The darts and gathering at the waistline didn't show as well on the dark chiffon as it did on the jersey. I decided to change the neckline to a deep-v neck with gathering around the bodice, this worked alright on my first muslin but when I added a measly inch to it all hell broke loose. When I realized I had a whopping three days left I decided to abandon the idea. I will make my original design one day out of polka dot jersey, but I will have to purchase a walking foot for my Kenmore. 

I was really disappointed and it didn't help being freakishly ill for the majority of April. : ( After biting the bullet I found another way to utilize my material. I have a vintage blouse pattern from 1951 that I felt could be easily altered to look more 40's in appearance. I knew I wanted a contrasting collar and sleeve bands, so I created a new collar for the blouse, but forgot to add the extra .5" that I altered in the bodice. So after assembling it and then fumbling around with it for a few hours, I'm finally at an end. The collar is done for, because it is chiffon (with a sew-in facing) it is still very fragile and has been frayed far past the seam allowance. I was just too aggressive with it. I will have to draft another one at the appropriate size. I also still have to attach the 3/4 sleeves and the sleeve bands, finish the hem, finish the button holes and sew on the buttons. It's a lot of work and I know it isn't happening today. I'd also rather not rush things and have this go to shit because I really want it to look good. I am kind of bummed that all I had for the front interfacing was sort of white (it shows a little) and I had to use a bias binding that is a little heavier than what I desire, but it's all I can afford and use right now. I hope it doesn't show too much. : /

I will get this done and when I do I'm going to wear it with pride. I will be launching a sister blog very shortly, it will chronicle all of my other sewing projects. I'm going to keep Feeling Sew Good strictly 50's and 60's, maybe 40's too, we'll see. Until then, I hope that everyone else's sewing projects are going well!

Happy sewing! ❤