The Sheer Blouse or "¿Estoy Boricua?"

As soon as I got this blouse finished and on for photos all I could think of was, "Man, I am ready for a block party in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico." I mostly love the blouse. DH definitely loves it and says it looks "Boricua" as well. And that's great! It's a light, fluffy, summery blouse that I don't take too seriously, despite all the handwork in it and dealing with sheer issues.

This is a combo of BWOF 06-2009-122 and 123 and a fair amount of my own design changes. The directions from Burda? SUCK. I had to do my own thing every step of the way. The only time I referenced the directions was on the CF bands. They were useless. If you can figure out their directions, let me know. Somehow, on my own, I got thru it. That band alone takes it out of the dot and a half category.

The fabrics are sheer poly chiffons for the shell and sleeves/ruffle and a poly georgette for the lining.

Design changes I made:

* I used a sheer which necessitated French seams everywhere as well as a lining. The lining is attached at the CF bands and the armscyes. The selvedge of the lining is used across the upper chest and back giving the illusion of a sheer yoke above. To support this I did a running stitch across the selvedge in 3 strands of complimentary colored floss. The lining hangs free otherwise in the garment. All ruffle, sleeve, and hem edges were treated with the edge treatment shown in this tute.

* I changed the sleeve. After making a muslin with the BWOF sleeve variation, I decided it looked, well, as per Gwen, like a handkerchief sewn on, fugly. I played with a muslin ruffle and ended up doing a 6 inch bias cut ruffle for the sleeve. I used double the width of the upper armscye and tapered the width down to nothing at the ends. I thought it was pretty flattering for these aging arms. I also had to figure out how to deal with the bottom of the armscye. It is square, parallel to the floor, with sharp corners. First I dealt with that bottom edge. I used a double fold of bias to trim it off. The ends were folded in so no raw fabric hanging around. (Click to enlarge the pic to see this and sorry for the poor lighting. )
You can see the remaining raw edges of the armscye. The ruffled sleeve was attached to these edges with a French seam. The finished edges of the bias binding and the edge of the sleeve french seam were then sewn together in the corner making a smooth transition on the interior.

* I guess you could say the CF band was my own design because I don't have a clue how BWOF put their's on. I was really pleased with the tiny buttonholes made by my 38 year old Kenmore. My Pfaff did not pass this test. The buttons I used needed to be flat and tiny, so I found just what I needed in my stash. They were MOP inherited from my great aunt, so a nice antique touch here. I used two sheets of stabilizer underneath the buttonholes. This is one of those applications where the extra fine thread really makes a difference.














My recommendations for anyone using this sheer fabric:

* Use fine weight embroidery thread. This is critical. The thread must be appropriate for the fabric and this fabric is fine. In this blouse I used Mettler silk finish cotton as well as some Coats and Clark fine embroidery thread. You are limited in color choice with these fine weight threads but some compromise is OK here.

* Use a small stitch. Throughout this construction I used a 1.5 stitch length. This is critical for the French seams, particularly. These sheer fabrics love to shred and this will help prevent that.

* Think out every seam and cross seam before you stitch it. You will see everything thru the fashion fabric. French seams can be bulky at intersections and you need to plan for that. Plan for a lot of handstitching to make things work.

* Old fashioned bottled liquid starch will be your new best friend. Every seam got starched before pressing as I worked thru this project. It helps manage the unruliness of the fabric and cut down on ravelling. As always, do some test starching and pressing before committing to your project.

* Keep things light. Sheers are all about the light passing thru, the floaty nature of the drape, and downright femininity. Don't get to heavy handed with your design. That will put you back in "hippie from the sixties" mode. If you lived thru it, like I did, it won't look good on you at this stage, trust me.

As far as fit, I love the fit from the waist seam to the hip and in the upper bodice. The waist to boob area is different. I took in the sides seams at least an inch each. It still seams to "blouson" above the waist seam, giving the SBS (saggy boob syndrome) look. They were perky when I took the pic, really. You don't see the bottom hem edge of the blouse either in the picture. I have lost weight lately and all my clothes are hanging off my hips with the crotch line dropping a good couple of inches. I am not sure I am up to making those adjustments in jeans. Actually, I know I am not. So this did not pose a pretty pants picture with the blouse, no matter what pants I tried. Time to buy more fabric.

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I know I have been somewhat MIA. I mentioned previously some heavy work commitments and DH and I are thru that now. But last last Monday my brother's oldest son took his life. We have been reeling ever since. My heart goes out to anyone who has lived thru such a horror.

I must say that Tommy was a beautiful young man whose troubles came as a surprise to all. He was close to family, communicated exceptionally, had many friends, and worked hard at two jobs. As one of my dear cybersewing sisters, Ann, said to me, "he didn't mean to kill himself. He just wanted the pain to go away." We may never know the reasons for such a horror. All I know is that there is a chasm in our hearts that just can't be filled. He belongs in there.......Bunny

Tommy

August 24, 1982 - July 6, 2009


We will miss you always.

Upcoming Projects

In my last post I mentioned 3 upcoming projects. Two were for my grandaughters and inspired by Gail Doane's work combining smocked dresses and little embellished jackets.

Here you see the fabric combo for Carly's ensemble. I foresee a smocked black and white toile bishop with plaid binding and piping. The jacket will be red cashmere, also bound with the plaid, and definitely embellished in some sort of way, not sure yet how. This cashmere is so soft and light and yummy, a perfect weight for a little two year old. Her platinum blond looks will play wonderfully with this fabric color combo. The toile is a Waverly decorator weight, but once washed it will soften up nicely. I have used this before in other colorways, (See Sophie's Toile Dress.) I know it will work out fine. The plaid is a homespun 100% cotton. I am really excited about this project. It has the things I love to work on. First, I have always been mad about toiles. Secondly, black and red are one of my favorite combos. Third, I love the juxtaposition of the homespun, cashmere, and home dec fabric. So, this one really has my juices going.

Here you see the black oxford cloth for a blouse for myself. I haven't honed in on the pattern yet, but haven't really had the time to dig thru the pattern stash lately. I am looking for a basic blouse, raised waistline, long or 3/4 sleeves, and opportunity for embellishment. I really think I will get a lot of wear from this one. I love my black jeans as much as Lindsay loves her white ones! You say this fabric isn't black? Oxford clothes are made with white wefts so if a black is the warp, it reads as grey. Did I get my wefts and warps mixed up? Wouldn't be surprised. I have done it before.

Sherrill asked about cast on flowers. In my comments I responded that they remind me of knitting on your sewing needle. You can see what I mean in this photo from InAMinuteAgo, one of my favorite embroideryblogs. If you are interested in embroidery, particularly the contemporary expression of this art, you will love this blog.


Learning how to do cast on flowers and roses have been on my goal list for some time now. They are up there with bullions, which while I may not be a master, I can apply to my heirloom sewing fairly competently. I would like to learn and get to the same place with the cast ons. Once I start I will definitely keep you posted of my efforts. The smocking I envision for Carly's toile dress would have cast ons on the dress, I think. I am still working out that design. I just realized as I wrote this, that I am working on a design requiring something I don't know how yet to do. Certainly has not been the first time for that!

DH and I are straight out until after the 12th, but once I turn that corner, I should have my sheer blouse done and be working on one of my new projects.......Bunny

What's Next?

I am on the home stretch with the sheer blouse. The sleeves are edged and gathered. Now I just need to install them with a bias binding. This binding is going to have to be very tiny to work on this sheer. I am trying to figure out if there is a different way to do this. Some thought is needed before I take the next step.

In the meantime I have been picking out and planning the next 3 projects. I am still not sure which I will start on first. The fabrics you see pictured are for a shaped yoke dress with a smocked front bodice from waist to yoke edge. This will be for Sophie. Her Mom picked out this fabric for me to make her something and a design has finally clicked. Looks like cranberries, doesn't it? I will be using a pattern from Gail Doane's new book, Sew Cute Couture. The green fabric is 100% double faced wool and will be for a coordinating jacket. I may felt it first. I also may felt other fibers in to it to be the background of my embroidery. This is a work still in design morph mode. The one thing I know is that the jacket will have lots of cast on flowers and maybe cast on bows.

The beige you see is a coordinating fabric I stumbled upon in a different store. I am not sure how or if I will use it. Still morphing, remember?

Project number two will be a smocked bishop and wool jacket for Carley. More on that later after I buy the plaid coordinate I have picked out.

And project number three is a blouse for myself with a high waist. I hope to have a smocked band around the waist. This will probably be the first of the three to get made. I am thinking a black oxford cloth. I like the bodice on the sheer blouse a lot so with a different sleeve that may end up being the pattern I use. I really want long or 3/4 sleeves on the blouse. ...Bunny

Sophie and Alicia

This is my Sophie holding her new doll, Alicia. She and Grandma Bunbun put Alicia together last night and this morning. Her specific job was to stuff the doll using chopped up pieces of plastic grocery bags. You can get quite innovative when you are out of poly fil. We started with two red gloves, cutting off fingers to make a tummy and a head and then stuffing the dickens out of them. We stitched on red yarn for hair. Then we sat down and watched Bunbun embroider the face. Sophie wanted Alicia to have blue eyes so I accommodated.

She could not put Alicia down. She was so intent when we were working on Alicia together. Did a Grandma's heart good. We also spent time making a pattern and 5 capes for her "My little Pony" that I found in the basement. It has belonged to her mother. She played with that dang pony for hours, tieing the little capes off and on...

This past weekend was one of family, lots of rain, and much fun and love. Life is too short to miss out on these opportunities. DD and her DH were in Lake Placid getting swimming training for the next triathlon they will do. We very gladly watched the babes. Jack clung to his hero, Poppa Ernie, and Sophie kept asking, "can we go to your room, Bunbun". Life is good. They have now left the end of the driveway, into traveling oblivion, and we will all get settled back to the real world. I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

Needless to say, no serious sewing was accomplished. Sophie helped me pick out and focus on her next outfit, a Gail Doane inspired dress and jacket for the holidays. We put together lots of wool and dress fabric combos before we came up with the final choice. Sophie is quite opinionated and I really appreciated and admire that in this tall little four year old. She also picked out a jar of buttons, sprinkled them on the table, and proceeded to match them up and tie them together. Nuther chore done with the help of a four year old. I hope Sophie treasures these moments. These are the things I did with my grandmother who indeed was responsible for planting the seeds of creativity in my soul. I hope I can do the same for Sophie. This weekend was a good start......Bunny

Thoughts on Michael

Flashback to 1982. I had just returned to full time work after being home with my children for 11 years. Like most working mothers I faced a baby sitting dilemma. Day care centers weren't convenient to home and work and there weren't that many anyway. I worked out a schedule where I would only need a sitter from 11:00 to five with DH taking over at that time. My daughters were 11 and 8 years old and pretty good kids. Since it was summer I had the local 14 year old to sit the girls until I found a better sitch in the fall. She had baby sat for us before on those rare evenings out.

Things seemed to be working out, not perfect, but good enough. About 2 months after I started work I got the phone bill. It was for 450.00! In those days I never had a phone bill over twelve dollars. What the buck? Also, in those days, Michael Jackson was one cute young man who could make anyone, including an eleven and and eight year old get up and dance. Heck, he could make me get up and dance. I called the phone company and asked them to trace out the calls and get back to me as surely this had to be some sort of mistake. When the return call came back from the phone company, I was floored. I had to deal with my children and the babysitter. It was the third degree from Mom, the kind where you sit your kids down at the table, stare 'em down and start pushing verbally. After some threatening and lots of voice raising, and per the phone company, it seemed my little daughters and the babysitter spent days trying to reach Michael Jackson by phone. The got started with the name of the record company on the record, yes, it was records and eight tracks back then. They didn't give up. According to my girls, it was all the baby sitter's idea and fault. Yeah, right. They told me they eventually got to his personal secretary. I was a bit impressed at their persistence but didn't dare tell them that. We ended up with the baby sitter getting fired, and my daughters scrubbing the bathroom floor on their hands and knees for one month every day when I got home from work. I fully carried thru on their punishment. But then, I had the magic motivator. I told them I would pay the bill, never tell their father, and they couldn't touch a phone until I told them they could, which was for quite a while!

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Last night DH was cruising with the clicker and found some obscure to us cable channel, FuseTV. All night long they were playing videos and TV show cuts of Michael Jackson. It was incredible. His talent was jaw dropping. I can't find the words to describe the music. We sang and swayed to "I'm gonna rock with you all night".His suit of lights emphasized every move of his body. His control of the most minute body movement was breathtaking. He danced like no other I have ever seen. We watched all night, all the videos. Our evening ended near midnight with the playing of the the Billy Jean video. I got up and danced....Bunny

Book Review - Sew Cute Couture, Gail Doane

I absolutely love this book. It is written by Gail Doane, a very well respected heirloom sewist, born in Canada, and currently living in the US. Her work is often featured in Australian Smocking and Embroidery as well as other heirloom publications.

A caveat here - if you go to Amazon, like I did, to buy this, there are two listings. One has the price at 15.63 and the other is 66. 38. Make sure you click on the one that is 15.63. I have no idea why the other is so expensive other than something may be getting lost in the Aussie exchange rate or such. My sources have told me these are the exact same book. Now to the book,

This is a book of ten different smocked dresses with coordinating embellished jackets and sometimes little embellished bags to match. The book is really about the jackets. Doane's mastery of embellishment is incredible. One of my goals is to learn how to do cast on roses and Doane's instructions will get me there. They are so clear and the photography says it all. This book is published by Country Bumpkin, reknown for their fabulous photography and clear instructions. The beautiful child models are right off the pages of AS&E.

Patterns are included in a pullout for all of the garments and they run from size 6 months to 12 years. Detailed instructions for rouleaux, fagotted bindings, cast on flowers, are understandable by anyone who can pick up a needle and look at pictures. They are that clear. There is a darling pattern for a swing jacket that I can't wait to make for Carley. I am duly inspired by Ms. Doane's work and can't wait to try one of these patterns.

If you would like to be inspired to sew some fabulous clothing for little girls, love a book that makes you want to sip camomile tea and linger over its pictures, and/or aspire to the next level of sewing clothing for children, this book is for you. I highly recommend it and at the price it is a sure keeper. You won't be sorry about this purchase.....Bunny