This pattern set off a series of unusual sewing projects for me: all the gathers! so many gathers! too many gathers?!
Apparently the one question I posed to myself when deciding on sewing patterns recently has been "Did my mom wear this in the '80s?" If the answer was yes, I was sewing it this past month.
This is the Seamwork Aims blouse, a dramatic, romantic oversized button-up blouse with full raglan sleeves gathered with elastic at the wrist. The front and back of the blouse are gathered into a lined, curved yoke.
For my Aims, I cut a size 18 from the curvy range to correspond with my measurements (roughly 47inch bust, 49 inch hip). The curvy range is designed for a DD cup and, for the Aims pattern, goes up to a 60 inch bust and 64 inch hip.
There is a lot of volume in this pattern, but it feels very intentional. I'm quite happy with the fit!
For fabric, I chose a tencel twill from my stash that I got from Hart's Fabric several years ago when I was passing through Santa Cruz in the before times.
It's a really pretty green color with a sort of washed, sueded texture that fits perfectly with the '80s theme of my blouse. It's weighty and drapey.
The Aims was a really fun pattern to sew. It has an interesting technique for sewing the collar/yoke/button band combo that required me to pay closer attention to the instructions than I might have otherwise.
My only beef is that the instructions have you gather both front bodice pieces, the sleeves and the back bodice all with three long lines of parallel stitching, which is a lot. My gathering stitches broke on both sides and I had to re-sew them.
If I could go back, I would gather the pieces separately - maybe the back and then each of the side/sleeve combos.
The pattern has buttons that end just below the yoke/bodice seam, but I wanted mine to go higher, so I sewed them on half-way up the yoke. The buttons I used looked really tiny and lonely to me after I sewed one set on, so I decided to sew a second set on a la Rachael of Minimalist Machinist. I love it!
I'll be honest: I was not feeling like sewing buttonholes, so I sewed my buttons on straight through both plackets. I can pull the blouse over my head, so getting into it isn't a problem.
I really love this top! It's totally outside of my normal style comfort zone with all of the gathers, but I think it's really fun. Not too many gathers, to answer my earlier question.
It will also be perfect for video calls this winter since it's a lovely color and it has some beautiful face-framing details. Plus it's pretty full coverage, so I can fit a base layer underneath, which is key in Vermont's cold months.
Seamwork says that the Aims blouse is designed to be worn tucked in, but I'm not a full tuck person. I think it looks nice loose, or with a little french tuck, too, though!
I'm already considering my next Aims... two thumbs up!