The never ending (linen) story: La Sylphide blouse

I promise this is the last you’ll see of this navy linen!

I scraped this blouse out of the very last of what was originally a 5m piece of linen that I bought for $3/m at The Fabric Warehouse’s crazy sale late last year, previously used to make my Bleuet Dress and Mr. Guy’s Negroni shirt. There was so little left that I had to compromise with shorter sleeves (which is actually rather good in the heat we’re having) and the bow is half the width it should be. Even so, I’m somewhat impressed that I managed to fit everything on!

From my last dress, I knew that I didn’t need to make many alterations so made it as is; although now I realised that I didn’t alter the dart height, so they’re still a bit high.

The sleeves are made using my bodice sloper pattern, cut as long as the fabric would allow me; the back is the original La Sylphide pattern piece and it fits me so well I’ve actually started using this pattern piece for other dresses. I lined up the pattern piece with my back bodice sloper and the armscye is EXACTLY the same so now I have this darted version, and the old princess seam version. I still need to turn my princess seam sloper into a darted version, for when I feel like using one.

The waist seam is sitting a bit high, I guess because it doesn’t have a skirt to pull it down, and I feel that the peplum is a bit too short – it would be a lot more flattering if it was a couple of inches longer.

This isn’t a real issue, because of course the top looks even better tucked in:

The back waist seam still sits a little higher than the skirt waistband, but I don’t think anyone will notice!

The buttons are navy ones with gold pieces in a circle around the thread holes (if that makes sense) – oh goodness do I love them. I think I might need to buy up all the stock that Made on Marion has to use for future projects.

What else, what else. Why can I never think of anything to say in my blog posts, even though I love reading everyone else’s blogs? Too inpatient and succinct, I guess.

Anyway, I think this top will only really be worn tucked in. I never thought peplum tops would suit me (despite being recommended for pear shapes), so even after finding out that it looks alright on me, I’m not used to seeing that shape on my body and I feel it’s a bit too fru-fru. Maybe it’s just the placement/length of the peplum so I may try it again, at least until I work out the best way to turn this into a normal blouse without the peplum.

I’m quite pleased with the construction of the top, too, and the whole process of making it shows me how much I’ve improved recently. I wasn’t in the best mood when making it (tired) and Mr. Guy even told me “you should stop sewing, because you’ll make a mistake and be even more upset/angry”. I kept sewing but was mindful of what he said (it was true), but I didn’t make ANY mistakes. In fact, I noticed myself subconsciously fixing mistakes I would usually make, before they happened – things like accidently getting fabric caught in a seam, messing up the narrow hem (thanks to Mrs. C I have ditched the special “narrow hem” foot for my machine and am much happier for it), not catching all the layers when edge-stitching down the neck tie or when stitching in the ditch.

This is how cool I feel about  that:

Details

Pattern: La Sylphide blouse by Papercut Patterns

Fabric: Linen scraps, ~1m $3/m

Notions: buttons, $2 each = $10. Thread and interfacing, stash.

Total: $13

In other news, I know I have mentioned that my parents have been visiting this week, which has been lovely. I took a few days off work and yesterday we drove up to Cape Reinga, the most northern part of New Zealand. Reinga means “underworld” in Maori, and the alternate name “Te Rerenga Wairua” means “leaping-off place of spirits” – this is where the spirits of the dead pass (by leaping off the old knarled pohutikawa tree that is clinging to a rock overhanging the ocean) before travelling to the underworld/the spiritual home of Hawaiki.

Behind us is where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean mix, a spot that is constantly unsettled. The Māori refer to this as the meeting of Te Moana-a-Rehua, ‘the sea of Rehua’ with Te Tai-o-Whitirea, ‘the sea of Whitirea’, Rehua and Whitirea being a male and a female respectively.

A lovely day, finished off by a beer at the Kohukohu pub, talking about fishing rights with locals, then pies for dinner from the organic shop.