Whoop! First sewing project of the new year!
This is the blouse (view D) from Marilla Walker's Roberts Collection. I don't know why it's taken me so long to make something from this collection- I love it! I wanted to ease into the collection with the blouse, which was likely to be a hit based on my well-known love of Marilla's Maya top. Now I hope to graduate to the jumpsuit, which is a bit riskier, style-wise, at least for me.
The fabric is Thai silk that I bought at the Jim Thompson factory outlet- not the slippery stuff, but the nubby, textured variety. Maybe dupioni, based on this description? I don't know- it's just labeled "Thai silk" at the store! I think I got it off the remnant shelf at the outlet, so it was even further discounted.
I've had this silk in my stash forever (maybe 2 years?) because I have been totally immobilized by my fear of washing it. In the new year, I decided to throw caution to the wind and just treat it how I would likely treat the final garment. I machine washed it on gentle and hung it to dry. I hate dry cleaning, so this is more realistic for me. The silk lost a little bit of the sheen, but softened it up slightly.
Marilla gives instructions for all sorts of felled and faux felled seam finishes in the Roberts pattern. For this blouse, because my silk was quite shreddy at the edges, I went with french seams, faux felled. Faux felled French? Anywho, the insides of my blouse are quite neat as a result.
Size-wise, I chose size 5 on the top, graded to 6 at the hip.
I love the v-neck! Low enough to be a bit sexy to counteract the boxiness of the blouse, but not too low.
The back triangle detail is fun, too, highlighted by the topstitching. It would be cool for some colorblocking or print mixing, too, methinks.
Time to get working on that Roberts jumpsuit now...!
Bonus photos, deep from my Instagram archives!
Rolls of fabric at the Jim Thompson Factory Sales Outlet:
Spinning silk from cocoons at the Jim Thompson House in Bangkok: