Completed: Sassy Librarian Blouse

Sunday, August 05, 2012

Finished up the Sassy Librarian Blouse by Christine Haynes this weekend. It was a fun class to take and Christine is an excellent teacher. This is one of my first garments I've completed where I'm not afraid to show off the inside of the blouse (although I forgot to take pictures). My garments aren't always the neatest on the inside. A lot to do with the fact that I get so frustrated sometimes trying to figure out pattern directions and well sometimes I just don't get it so I make it up as I go and I'm sure we all now how that turns out sometimes. So it was really helpful for me to be able to watch someone put together the pattern and tell me the how to's and why's.

I made the sleeveless version with the pintuck detailing on the front that I just love. The fabric is a quilting cotton that I found on clearance and Joann's.

I can see myself making this blouse again but incorporating elements of View 1 with View 2. View 1 has sleeves and a peter pan collar. It's cute but not really my style. I'm thinking this view with the contrasting peter pan collar would look pretty cute.

The front panel has release pleats on both sides and bust darts. The back also has release pleats, a first for me.

I know hard to see against the print.

The back neck was really wide and gaped open which I'm finding is a common problem with me. Christine suggested adding a dart on each side of the CB. That was a fun challenge for me. I made my darts each an inch wide taking up a total of two inches on the back neck and facing.

I used some vintage buttons I picked up for a dollar at an antique store last weekend. They blend in pretty well and I would of preferred something more stand outish, like a yellow but I really wanted to use these to play along with the vintage feel of the top.

Thank goodness for the automatic buttonholer! I couldn't imagine having to sew all those buttonholes by hand. I had the damndest time trying to get the buttonhole on the tab. For some reason the automatic buttonhole wouldn't work on the tab so I had to do it manually. So it looks kinda sloppy but it's well hidden by the button.