Decades of Style - 1930s Butterfly Blouse

Originally, I was going to put up a post about the wearable muslin I made of V1324, which I plan to use on a camel colored leather skirt for my mini-wardrobe.  Sadly, when I take pictures on my phone and email them to myself they often take several hours to reach the computer.  Now I could get out a cord and move the photos manually... but I'm lazy. 

So instead you will be treated to a review of a beautiful pattern by Decades of Style, #3005 the 1930s Butterfly Blouse!  This is the first pattern I've ever purchased from Decades of Style largely because they don't go on sale for $0.99 at JoAnns.  This is one of only a handful of patterns that I've paid full price for, but given that I've admired it from afar for years, I finally capitulated and bought this pattern.  In March.  I made this blouse in March.  And never blogged it.  There are many such garments, so if I all of a sudden seem oddly prolific, you may just be enjoying the fruits of my distantly past labour.

Anyway, I bought this pattern for full price and bought the requisite yards and yards of silk charmeuse in a beautiful ballet shoe pink.  When my shipment of fabric arrived from Fabric Mart it looked suspiciously familiar...

Do you recognize it?  How about now?

 

That's right... this was the fabric so nice, I bought it twice.  I had purchased the fabric for the dress I wore to the fanciest wedding in the world at the Virginia Marti fabric store which has since closed.  While I had received an email notification that their stock was transferred to Fabric Mart, it never dawned on me that I may accidentally purchase the exact same fabric from two different vendors!  Good thing I look good in this color!

 

While this pattern itself comes together well and is not particularly challenging, the fabric I chose?  Is.  Oh silk charmeuse... I love your fluidity and drape, I love your sheen and the feeling of you on my skin.  But my goodness you are persnickity!  You shift and move and make it impossible to cut as precisely as I'd like.  And neat and tidy topstitching?  Forget about it.  But more on that in a moment...

 

The showstopping element in this garment is the incredibly full sleeves which flutter gracefully from a shirred shoulder and the saddle yoke.  All the pieces are curved and rather than standard seaming the edges are lapped and edgestitched. 

 



 

 

 

 

 

As mentioned a moment ago, I am not completely pleased with the edgestitching.  I've never been one to have the patience for edgestitching or topstitching or any other form of stitching that is visible from the right side.  The insides of my garments are attractive on the insides due more to my consistent use of linings rather than my neat and clever machine work.  And I know the problem.  To do this sort of thing neatly you need to engage all sorts of best practices.  You need to pin.  And take your time.  And generally not shove your material through your machine pedal to the metal on the fastest possible speed.  And all of this goes double for a challenging, slippery fabric.  But did I do these things?  Of course not!  I just continued along my merry way with my usual terrible technique and I wound up with a wearable, if flawed product.  C'est la vie.

 

 

To finish the edge of the neckline and hem I made bias tape out of my leftover scrap fabric.  Given the edgestitched details of the yoke and sleeve, this finish felt appropriate to the garment, although it adds a bit of a dressing gown/lingerie feeling that I would have perhaps been well to avoid.  

 

This blouse also features a wrap front. (So flattering!) And a nice wide sash tie.  (Ditto!)

 

 

Overall, it turned out quite well (if difficult to photograph) and I think will look beautiful with the charcoal gray suiting I used to create the high waisted skirt I muslined for V1324.  I may have to awkwardly pose in a window frame to show it off!