Saturday 1 May 2010

Vogue 8322 blouse with a stab at stripe matching

I finished it, after the glass of wine, and amazingly there were no sewing disasters, and I did not even stay up late.
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I whinged to my entire household yesterday evening, and they obviously felt that I would be unbearable should I fail to finish the SWAP (although they kindly refrained from telling me this)and my husband cleaned up the kitchen after dinner so that I could sew.

I hope you are all jealous :).Those of you with domestically inclined husbands can just keep quiet :).

He then asked me to sew him a cycling cap. I will think about it.

My stripe matching is not perfect, but there are bits with which I am pleased.
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I have more stripe matching photos, but even I am not finding them terribly interesting, so I imagine that they are deadly dull for other people.

I changed a few things about this blouse, mostly following an article in Australian Stitches by Maree Pidgeon, shirt maker extraordinaire. I had used the collar and front neck from this pattern (Vogue 8322) for an earlier blouse in the SWAP list, and was disappointed that the chest opening was narrow, and the supposed-to-be-standing collar much more wide and high, than shown in the pattern envelope illustration and technical drawing. Maree's article demonstrates widening the opening at the upper chest and shortening the collar by 1.5cm, and both narrows the collar and reshapes the end to make them more rounded (and just like the pattern illustration on the envelope) Bad Vogue!
The use of bias panels for the front and back sides is also Maree's idea. Her version also has piping and extra long contrast buttonholes, but I felt the fabric I used (Michael's Fabrics lightweight cotton twill) is sufficiently busy without further embellishment. The short sleeve and bias finish on the sleeves are my idea. The other alteration to the pattern is a princess seam small bust alteration, otherwise this is a straight size 8. I am happy with the fit.
My daughter really likes this blouse. I feel much better about SWAP today. Thanks for the kind comments following yesterday's rant.

13 comments:

KID, MD said...

It looks great!! Your stripe matching skills are amazing! I really love the bias princess panels. Very nice touch. Another pattern I must dig out and sew just like you...

Rosa said...

I LOVE this shirt! I love it's simplicity and detail, not to mention the fit. Congratulations! I think this is my fave of all your SWAP items. The heartache was worth it!

Liz said...

The shirt looks amazing! I love the neckline and the bias panels - they look fantastic.

Sharon said...

What a fantastic blouse, and the stripe matching is spot on.

Mary Nanna said...

How satisfying to have had your glass of wine and finished your SWAP too.

Pretty blouse, nice matching, but it's the perfect welts on the skirt that's got me mesmirised.

wendy said...

So pretty! I really like the buttons. They match the blue stripes so nicely :-)

Vicki said...

Horay for you!! Great finish to the SWAP.

Little Hunting Creek said...

Beautiful! I love the stripes
My favorite blouse.

Karin van Dam said...

That's a beautiful blouse. And the fit is so perfect. Great work!

Uta said...

Great blouse! Love it with the gray skirt. Classic really is best!

gwensews said...

Very nice blouse. Congratulations and good luck!

Carol said...

This blouse turned out beautifully. As I was busy wrestling with my sewing machine yesterday, I did not see your rant until today, but I sympathise. I am over SWAP. I just need to do photos, but really I don't ever want to see those garments again! The embellished dress I made is nice and fits well, but I know I am not going to wear it, because it just isn't me. The button feature was easier, although how one decides what constitutes an 'interesting' closure is probably subjective and I'm sure will cause confusion in the voting. Still, you've made your daughter some great clothes and that is all that really matters. I'm going to have some chocolate and read for a while and then think about my photos! Congratulations on finishing.

Kathi said...

Great top!!! I really like the design of the shirt and think the stripes really enhance it. Your stripe matching looks great. I am quite impessed with everything about it!