Tuesday, March 31, 2009

a shirt


 This is the Summer Blouse from Weekend Sewing.  I'm less pleased with this than I am with the Trapeze Sundress, but that's really my fault for choosing this pattern in the first place.  I should probably know by now that airy flowy loose tops make me look dumpy, no matter how good they look on everybody else.

 
Another problem is that--as with the Trapeze Sundress--the size small is too big for me.  As previously mentioned, there just isn't much of me on top. This shirt could easily accommodate a couple of fetuses along with my flat chested self (which is something I will certainly keep in mind when I need clothing to accommodate fetuses).


My pattern modifications:
  • I added ties to make it fit a bit closer, but now I kind of regret it and I'm wondering if this is too nineties?? 
  • I lengthened it
  • I narrowed the sleeves
  • I made little vents in the hem it the side seams (instead of hemming the entire thing straight around) to accommodate the parts of me that are not scrawny
This whole experience has me wondering if perhaps the problem is that my aesthetic is really dated?  Maybe I look normal in tunic style tops but I'm too stuck in 2003 to realize it?  Or maybe I spend so much damn time in tee shirts and sweaters that I expect everything to fit like a knit?  

Anyhoo. The fabric is a cotton lawn except for the placket and bias edging, which is the same fabric I used for the sundress.   I probably won't make this again (unless I have some kind of blouse related epiphany) but it's a great project for people who don't look like slobs in loose tops.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

(i originally read this earlier in the day...but was then distracted by a four year old covered in mosquito bites and wasn't able to comment--mosquito season--yay)...sigh.

so anyway, here are my thoughts:

*i love the fabrics you chose...beautiful.

*i get what you're saying about the ties being too nineties, but i don't think that's the case in this instance and it doesn't look bad or dated at all. i was in Forever 21 the other week and just about every shirt in there has ties in the back. you don't look like an extra from Reality Bites.

*from the picture, i don't think you look sloppy or dumpy...i think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned being used to knits. i spend so much time in casual clothes that when i wear anything a bit tailored, i feel like I'm dressed to appear in court.

anyways....i like it. you should wear it. lets be honest..we live in florida...we've seen people dressed way worse.

Karen said...

You're so right--if I dressed entirely in my 1999 wardrobe, I'd still be quite fashion forward by Jacksonville standards. I saw someone at the library last week who looked like she belonged in Designing Women. And she was my age (i.e., not 50). It was upsetting.