Another successful top made! And immediately made again!
I've admired this cute blouse and dress pattern from Anna Maria Horner, the Painted Portrait, for a while now. I like all of the possible variations, particularly the fun pieced yoke option. I think it would be a pretty awesome use of random scraps from other projects.
The first version I sewed up this week is basically a wearable muslin made out of some machine-printed batik. I love it! The empire waist style fit is great and it was really easy to put together. I'll definitely make it again, maybe using one of my fancier, hand-printed batiks, or perhaps some of Anna Maria Horner's beautiful fabrics. The details of the blouse get a little bit lost with the busy print used for the whole blouse like this one... Another idea: a solid yoke (perfect for displaying a cool necklace) with a patterned body.
My only complaint is that I am not a fan of facings... I find them bulky and awkward, even after I tacked them down on the inside of the blouse. Thus, for my second version, I eliminated the yoke facings and use bias tape to finish the neckline. Also, I skipped the button and slit in the back of the yoke- I don't need it to get the blouse over my head and the one I made on the batik version was pretty ugly (totally user error on my part). Now that I've made the second version, I may go back into the first and replace the facings with bias tape.
So, my second version is made from some old school fabric that the Real Martha sent me... I'm not sure what you would call it. Rainbow striped, funky textured, fairly sheer and flowy... I love it. It is even better than I imagined in Painted Portrait blouse form.
I cut the yoke pieces so that the stripes were perpendicular to the remainder of the body to make it stand out. The front looks great, but the back is a little funky because I forgot to pay attention to whether the two sides matched up. Really I should have just cut the back yoke in one piece, on the fold, and skipped the seam since I wasn't making the back slit. Live and learn.
I love how it turned out; love the fabric texture. Perfect for hot Indonesian weather... flowy and light. It has a bit of a late '60s, '70s hippie feel to it. As if Milla Jovovich might wear it in "Dazed and Confused." Love it.
So, my second version is made from some old school fabric that the Real Martha sent me... I'm not sure what you would call it. Rainbow striped, funky textured, fairly sheer and flowy... I love it. It is even better than I imagined in Painted Portrait blouse form.
I cut the yoke pieces so that the stripes were perpendicular to the remainder of the body to make it stand out. The front looks great, but the back is a little funky because I forgot to pay attention to whether the two sides matched up. Really I should have just cut the back yoke in one piece, on the fold, and skipped the seam since I wasn't making the back slit. Live and learn.
I love how it turned out; love the fabric texture. Perfect for hot Indonesian weather... flowy and light. It has a bit of a late '60s, '70s hippie feel to it. As if Milla Jovovich might wear it in "Dazed and Confused." Love it.
