For Mother's Day, way back in May, I made a Sewaholic Oakridge bow blouse for my mom, but only recently got some photos of her wearing it.
She admired the one I made for myself during Selfish Sewing Week so much so that she even commented on the blog post I wrote about it on Imagine Gnats. Martha is not a big blog commenter, so I knew that she must have been feeling particularly amorous about the Oakridge...
The only change I made to the pattern was to make 3/4 length sleeves by cutting at the "lengthen or shorten here" line and sewing them with a narrow hem.
For fabric, I used a turquoise rayon batik that Martha herself had given me, so I knew she would like it. It has flowers in purples, blues and greens running diagonally across the fabric. I didn't worry too much about pattern matching- I had a feeling I would never get it quite right and I was pretty sure it wouldn't matter anyway. After testing out several button options, I ended up making fabric-covered buttons with a kit I bought at Daiso. They're a little hard to button- they get stuck in the buttonholes- but you don't really need to unbutton the blouse anyway, as Oakridge has enough ease that you can slip it over your head.
I had a little bit of trouble with the curved hem. I should really just finish all my curved hems with bias tape to get them smooth...
I think the blouse is looking pretty good on her! Next time I might size down for her. The shoulders are a bit wide and the bodice a bit long. But serviceable!
It's very nice :) and the fabric is pretty!
ReplyDeleteThanks!!
DeleteWhat a lovely gift! It looks great on your mom! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gillian!
DeleteLucky Mom! The fabric is lovely...I'm not familiar with rayon batik, but it looks softer and more flowy than cotton batiks--is that accurate?
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yep, it's similar to rayon challis, but not quite as soft/silky. But still with a nice drape. I think she picked it up at this great discount fabric shop near where I'm from in Massachusetts- she calls it the $1.99 store. I've seen the rayon batiks on fabric.com sometimes and Nancy's Notions has a ton of them: http://www.nancysnotions.com/category/fabric/rayon+batik+fabrics.do
DeleteI think it looks great on your Mom! Such a pretty colour!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Heather! She does rock the turquoise quite well, methinks.
DeleteYour mom is a great model! The shirt looks really nice on her. That is a wonderful Mother's Day gift!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Teri! Ha ha, I did have to prompt her a bit to smile and not stand to stiffly. I mean, not that I am an expert at not standing stiffly. I have exactly 3 poses in my repertoire.
DeleteGorgeous fabric! I love batiks but am often stumped as to what to do with them. Your mother looks quite pleased and it fits her so perfectly.
ReplyDeleteThanks! My mom and I both love batik. She fell in love with the batik quilting cottons in the U.S. and I with traditional Indonesian batiks when I lived in Jakarta for a couple of years. I learned in Jakarta that you can make pretty much anything from batik and look amazing...
DeleteBatiks are one of my fabric to work with....this blouse is so pretty. What a lucky mom!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Annie!!
DeleteIt looks great!!! A really good shape and color on her! Your mom has good taste, just like you. :-)
ReplyDeleteHa ha- pretty sure I got it from her ;-)
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