I feel a little sheepish about this blouse. I have been meaning to make it up for ages, but other projects kept jumping ahead of it. I'm just not very good at sewing wardrobe basics!
And you can't get much more basic than a great white shirt! Myra has really needed this in her wardrobe, so that she can wear some of the garish printed skirts she loves.
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| Front |
The pattern is the
Summer Blouse for Girls from
Lily Bird Studio. I won this pattern in a giveaway, and so this is the only pattern I have from this maker. There are two reviews on PR for different patterns and both are very positive. I've been kvetching about writing this post, as I'm not 100% in love with this pattern. But no more, let's start with what I like!
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| Back |
The pattern itself was well-drafted and fit together as it should. The blouse is ADORABLE. The details are all wonderful and put together make a sweet top that Myra (and I) loves. The sleeve is too sweet - puffed and gathered and just as girlie as can be. I love the ruffle collar and the bound neckline is a lovely finish. The front and back yokes with topstitching are lovely and the doubled buttons are just genius. The instructions were full color photos of the process and very detailed. There are a few little construction details that could be tricky, but they are well described in the instructions. I also loved that she included instructions to finish the seams where appropriate.
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| Front yoke, sleeve and collar |
So, the dislikes... This is such a personal pet peeve that you can feel free to totally ignore me, but the tone of the instructions was, in my mind, unprofessional. I felt talked down to, and I actually stopped reading the directions after the first page, I was just that annoyed. Standard sewing terminology is totally ignored. For example, the front yoke is called "top front". Erg. Also, there were next to no markings on the pattern pieces themselves. Not even grainlines, but particularly annoying was the lack of any indication of where to gather the back bodice into the yoke or the sleeve caps. In fact, there were no sleeve markings at all, not even at the shoulder point. Finally, there is no instruction to interface anything. The front placket is only a single foldover - not enough to support buttonholes well.
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| Snaps instead of buttons, placket interfaced with Pro-Weft |
So, short version, I really like the blouse that resulted and I will probably use this pattern again, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who is not familiar with basic blouse construction. Whew, glad to get that off my chest.
Anyway, cute blouse on a cute kid!
It's a winner from that perspective.
And you can't get much more basic than a great white shirt! Myra has really needed this in her wardrobe, so that she can wear some of the garish printed skirts she loves.
Anyway, cute blouse on a cute kid!
It's a winner from that perspective.
11 comments:
Don't feel bad about good constructive pointers. It will make her future patterns better. Cute blouse.
Smashing
Myra looks adorable in that blouse...of course she is adorable in anything she wears!!! Constructive criticism is a good thing...hopefully the designer will incorporate your suggestions into future patterns.
It's just adorable! I wouldn't have tried that pattern, without even grainline markings! Having done so, I hope you made your own markings on the pattern, so you can choose to use it again. It would be great for Myra in pink and blue, as well.
So adorable, charming and pretty!
OMG you sew up such a storm! I am soooo jealous of all of your sewing time and sewing output!!!
Yes, it is definitely a winner! I like the ruffle around the neckline. How cute--blouse and kid!
I love me a ruffle collar! That would irritate me too with the directions...that's why I have a rough time with Amy Butler patterns. You get such fantastic results from her patterns, but wading through miles-long instructions that tell you mundane things like how and where to pin annoy me. Still, she's fabulous, and this blouse is also, so maybe that's just what we suffer through when we're not so green with sewing anymore.
The blouse is adorable! If you're going to make a basic, at least you can spice it up.
I have to laugh about "top front". That would definitely confuse me more than the correct term. That you can at least look up in a sewing reference.
She's just too cute! Such a great model.
=) I love your review. I do believe, however I might be wrong, that English is her second language, which might be part of it? Though, in general, PDF patterns are written for people totally unfamiliar with sewing terms so I'm sure that's part of it too. I've sewn a pattern from this designer and had so many problems and the result was not great. Though I've read other good reviews.
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