Bruyere: A Wearable Muslin

Finally, my Deer and Doe Bruyere!

I've had my eye on the pattern since it was released, but only got it in my hot little hands earlier this week, just in time to squeak in under the wire for the sewalong.

The sewalong, hosted by By Sandra's Hand, is all in French, but has lots of great photos to help you through. Worth taking a look if you're considering making the Bruyere top, even if you don't parle francais! The Deer and Doe pattern instructions are minimal, so the photos are quite helpful.

This is my wearable muslin... I had a feeling the pattern would work for me, as Deer and Doe tends to fit me quite well, so I didn't mess around with a real muslin. I used some inexpensive quilting cotton I got here in Bangkok (Palette Pleasures brand, according to the selvage). I only had 2 meters of my main fabric, so I supplemented with a second, coordinating print for the collar, yoke, cuffs, sleeve plackets, waistband and button placket. I realize it might be a bit much, teetering on the edge of Holly Hobbie, but I kinda like it. Also, it's just a muslin, so it's not the end of the world.

The fit is pretty damn good, I think! I could stand to lay off the snack table at the office to ensure I don't pop a button at the waist, but it seems fine otherwise. Somehow it's longer than I expected- definitely more tunic than shirt- but perfect with skinny pants or leggings.

I think the Bruyere is pretty great... a pretty, feminine (but not girly) take on the button-down.  I think perhaps a shirt dress version of the Bruyere (like the awesome dresses on Seams Like Chrystal and the Deer and Doe Addicts blog) may be on my list!!

My notes:

- I serged my seam allowances, with the exception of the sleeves, which I did with French seams so I could roll them up

- I skipped the top button because I couldn't imagine buttoning it... you'll also notice that although there is a buttonhole on the bottom, there is no associated button. That's because I had exactly the right number of buttons until my cat decided to steal the open baggie of buttons and run away with it, sprinkling buttons throughout my apartment. I found all but one of them. Arg! Maybe it'll turn up yet...

- It wasn't clear from the directions what needed to be interfaced and what didn't, so I interfaced one side of the collar and one side of the cuffs

- I love the yoke/collar/facings/button band sandwich method. Took me a while to wrap my brain around it, but it's pretty cool!