Heather Ross summer blouse

When I started sewing, prior to my blogging days, it was to sew cute outfits for my daughters. But I have never, ever sewn something for myself. Mostly this is because I have big boobs. Hard to find patterns that cater to the sistas! But I have been a wee bit obsessed with sewing myself a fall wardrobe lately, given all the amazing fabrics out there, and I decided to take the plunge and start with the summer blouse pattern from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing book, which has been sitting up on the shelf for ages. Incidentally, that book has now been joined by her latest, Heather Ross Prints, which is absolutely freaking awesome and I assume you are all smart enough to buy! ;)


I definitely had some blips along the way making this shirt. I originally planned to make this in my long-hoarded Amy Butler lotus flower and moon dots, as the pattern called for 1 - 5/8 yards and I had 2 yards of each. BUT, wrong-o. The layout of the pattern pieces showed that the sleeve piece should fit alongside the front and back pieces, but it didn't, so I ended up needing about 2.5 yards to lay the pieces all out. Of course I didn't clue into this until I had ALREADY started chopping up the fabric (grr). Lesson learned, check and double check! So, to avoid further spoilage of dear and hard to find out of print fabrics, I started again with this cute print I picked up for a good price at Fabricland ages ago. I love the style of it for this shirt.


Overall, for a first attempt at sewing, this shirt is wearable. I love the laid back style of it, and certainly plan to make it again. When I do, in addition to the fabric quantity modification, I will definitely lengthen the shirt. It falls a bit too high for my liking, and while it looks good layered with a longer tank top, I think it is too short to wear on its own. Conversely, the sleeves were way too long. Also, I would probably shorten the neck slightly in the front. And while we are splitting hairs, I may choose a fabric with a bit more drape.

What I love about this shirt (and where I think I kicked some clothes-sewing ass), was the hand stitched orange detail and button along the neck. Just adds so much to the look! I love it.


Also, I made the shirt using French seams, which leaves no raw edges, and this makes the finish look so much more polished. Will definitely do this for all clothing I make in the future, and judging by the ridiculous amount of online fabric shopping I have done lately, there should be plenty of clothing to follow!