Written by Oh, June!
At the beginning of the year, I promised myself to sew only what my needs dictated, so I could fill all the gaps in my wardrobe and not focus on it for a while. I hoped this approach would allow me to be more creative without putting too much pressure on myself when I wanted to experiment.
But my intrusive thoughts often sounded something like:
“Why do you need something fancy? You don’t even have the basics!”
or:
“Stop wasting time on something stupid; do something useful!”
Most of the time, these thoughts would prevent me from doing anything, as the truth is, I want to create something new without worrying about how often I’ll use it.
This blouse was a compromise between these conflicting thoughts.
I decided to experiment with my newly created block pattern and create something new to me, which is how this blouse came to be. Of course, I could have just bought a drawstring pattern for a blouse, but what lessons would I learn?
I grabbed my notebook and started sketching. I knew I wanted a drawstring and a V neckline, but it took me two days to figure out the puff sleeves—how to construct them, modify my pattern, and how they should look overall.
I chose this fabric, which is no surprise, and I finally mastered the print by cutting and matching it on the seams without mistakes.
Overall, I’m very happy with the result, though I’d like to make some small changes to perfect it.
I’m not going to get too technical about this garment, as I plan to turn it into a proper pattern and possibly grade it for everyone.
Anca GV 