The paisley blouse

Isn't paisley a lovely word?  I have always liked the word and I have a real fondness for the pattern too.  This next sewing project was driven by the fabric first and then by the pattern.  I had fallen in love with some paisley fabric from Merchant and Mills and I was determined that I would make a blouse from it.  A bit of hunting and I found the perfect pattern from Butterick: B5538.  I liked this pattern as it has several different adaptations you can make from it.  The sleeves and collars are all interchangeable so you can mix and match to make the blouse you want.

It is also quite a straight forward pattern.  At first when I cut it out I thought it had a lot of pieces.  A lot of pieces to me meant it was probably going to be tricky, but they went together quite well.  I find I have to look at a pattern almost from a distance at first to work out what it is trying to do and then see how it makes it happen.

There are things I like very much about this blouse.  I like the interfaced front very much.  It makes it feel sturdy and also means that it is not scarily see-through.

The cuffs are also things of wonder.  I had not made a blouse with cuffs before and I worried that I might find them difficult.  They did take me a bit of fiddling around with, but nothing serious and they look really good.

I chose some vintage buttons to finish the blouse off.  I am very pleased with the buttons.  I am becoming completely convinced that a good button can be the make or fail of a project.  I have worn this blouse a few times now, for leisure and for work and people have commented on how nice it looks.

Mid-sewing this blouse I bought a new sewing machine (as you do).  I decided however to finish off this project on the old machine, partly as a courtesy to the old machine rather than just shelve it, and partly so I could have a play on the new machine and get used to it before committing to starting a new project.   I shall introduce you to the new machine in the next post.

The Beach Pyjamas

Sometimes to see something is to have to have something.  One of the glories of Twitter is that it introduces me to some wonderful people and some fantastic things.  This 'Now and Then' pattern from Til the Sun Goes Down for these wonderfully retro beach pjjama and holiday dress that was just too tempting not to buy.

I did wonder if I was pushing myself too far for this to be a second project, but the glory of dressmaking is seeing things like this and giving it a go.  I just knew I had to go carefully and slowly, something I am not always very good at.

Firstly though, I decided I wanted a matching jacket of some sort to go with it.  I looked around firstly to see what I thought would look right and then I found a pattern.

The jacket pattern from Butterick was really very simple so I knew I had to do this first to make sure I was getting more confident.

The jacket came together really well.  The fabric was bought from John Lewis and it hangs nicely.  I decided I would take the plunge and start on the pyjamas.

I cannot begin to tell you how pleased with them I am.  They fit and are very comfortable. I also did not make any huge mistakes or have to hide any blunders.  At some point, probably closer to next summer, I want to also make the summer dress.  I have bought some pattern chart paper so I can cut around the original pattern and also have the right pieces for the summer dress.  Well who knows,  I might have to make more pyjamas one day

My confidence took a big leap forward and I started to think that I needed to be even more serious about my new found love for my sewing machine.  Completing this project successfully meant it suddenly felt that a whole raft of possibilities was now open to me.  I got so excited that I decided the time was right to create a sewing room, which I will write more about in a future post.

To be continued as they say......