Josephine Blouse: A Wearable Muslin

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:

Anna Dress Wearable Muslin

Woo!  Anna dress done, finished in time for By Hand London's sew-along grand finale, but not photographed or blogged until now for reasons of laziness/moving chaos/international travel and adventure.

I am super jazzed about this dress because the pattern fit pretty much perfectly right out of the envelope.  No back gaping problems like others seemed to have. I didn't make any (purposeful) alterations, although I think I may have accidentally decreased the seam allowance on the back center seam a bit to 3/8 inch when I inserted the zipper.  No biggie.  I may have to add some bra strap stays, I think, because the neck is a teeny bit wide.

The dress was quite easy to put together, even with the dreaded facings.  Although I will say, damn Gina!, there was a lot of seaming in that skirt (check out the dress innards below)... my serger was like, "Dude. Seriously.":

This Anna is basically serving as a wearable muslin for me because I used some soooooper cheap fabric that I picked up here at a shop in Bangkok's Sampeng area.  I think its a cotton blend of some sort, pretty lightweight.  Guess how much it cost.  Just guess...  3 meters for 100 baht (about $3)!  Niiiice.

I'm pretty happy with my final product!  Things I need to work on: pattern matching (although the 7 part skirt probably made that unusually difficult) and invisible zipper insertion.  My invisible zipper is certainly not invisible and it catches a little bit, but ya know, it's a muslin.  And it was my first invisible zipper, so I'll call it a win because it goes up and down, ish.  In any case, I'm psyched to wear the dress out and about!

Grainline Studio's Scout Woven Tee

Who's combating a bout of homesickness with some serious crafting?  

*  This guy! *

I've had my eye on this pattern at Grainline Studios for a while now: the Scout woven tee.  It's so simple, so easy to make, and infinitely wearable.  You could dress it up or down, and although I imagine this tropical version I've made is more of a dress-down version, I am picturing a version in batik or ikat that could be worn for work with a cardigan or under a suit.  All of the various versions I saw online looked great... lace, flowers, polka dots, solid...  expect more of these from me!

 

This top was originally intended to be muslin for me to try out a new pattern, but now I think I kinda dig it for its vintage vibe.  I used some more fabric Martha hand-me-downed, left over from her '80s era Hawaiian phase (?).  I also employed some of the circa 1978 bias tape for the neckline... smells a little funny, but got the job done! I frenched all my seams, per this tutorial, and made slightly poofy sleeves by cutting the sleeves out one size larger than the body.  I think after making several garments over the last few months that I'm finally getting the hang of this sewing business.