I didn't jump on Made by Rae's Josephine pattern when it first came out, but for some reason this past Sunday I couldn't get it out of my head. Later that afternoon: an impulse purchase, a download, some printing, cutting and taping, a quick sew and ta-da!
A wearable muslin Josephine blouse by evening's end.
I used some polka dot mystery fabric that Martha gave me (you might remember it from this Maggie Mae top or the lining of the plaid patchwork dress I made Zoe). I think it's vintage stuff from her stash. It's quite sheer (hence the camisole in these pics), very soft, and if you turn the iron on too hot it melts a little. As such, it doesn't press very well and my pleats are not as crisp as they could be, but the shirt is really comfy to wear.
I am really digging this pattern... it's super simple and quick to put together, but the pleats make it look really polished and professional. It would go well with a pencil skirt or cigarette pants for work, but it could also be worn with jeans. I can imagine it in lots of fabrics... I've got a pretty piece of batik
silk from Indonesia that has Josephine written all over it! I think perhaps next time I might go with sleeves that are slightly less... um... pirate-y. Maybe the straight 3/4th length sleeves from the Painted Portrait tunic?
My methodology consisted of following the directions for view B with the exception of a few areas:
- I staystitched and sewed the binding on the neckline immediately after sewing the pleats and attaching the shoulders together (before sewing on the sleeves) because I didn't want the neckline to get distorted. Also, I sewed the binding on the inside like a facing rather than have it show since I was using store-bought bias binding.
- I basted together the side seams and tried it on without the back elastic to see if I wanted to add that feature or not... I wasn't sure it would look good with the sheer fabric and I didn't feel it needed more shaping, so I omitted it for this version.
As an aside, the slightly pink hue in all my photos is due to this pretty sunset in the other direction:
