A tale of two techniques - What would you do?

 The minute I saw Lucy of the vlog Sew Essential wearing this blouse I fell in love with the design. It was just so pretty and also so simple looking to make. It's feminine, would cover my skin from the summer sunshine* but still has that little peekaboo keyhole opening in the front bodice.  The full sleeves would make it quite comfortable in the heat of the season. This would have to somehow become part of my summer wardrobe. While I am not a jeans wearer at all, I suddenly craved a pair of straight legged, high waisted jeans in the darkest wash I could find just to wear this shirt, like darling Lucy. One step at a time! 

*(You may remember my bout with squamous cancer and the fact that melanoma runs heavy in my family. My sweet baby brother just got over his third serious bout a few weeks ago. I am now ever conscious of being comfortably covered in the sun.) 

My first step was getting the pattern, Simplicity 9469, a simple matter of waiting for a sale at Joanns! As my planets lined up I had to wait thru a couple of sales before I was able to pick this up but that was taken care of and now it was fabric time! Or will it be jeans? I went for the fabric first because I came across the lovely 100% cotton lawns now being carried at Joann's. I particularly like the prints mimicing the Nani Iro prints from Japan. I fell and bought a lovely blue version. 

It is soft, really pretty, not sheer but very light and it washed and dried beautifully. I had no shrinkage at all except for the selvedges. We used to run into this a lot with custom drapery fabric and the workrooms would always cut the selvedges off before even thinking of cutting the fabric. I will do the same here as it tightens up and could distort any pattern pinned on the edge. This was only one selvedge on one side! Other than that it was lovely perfection. But, but,,,,,, yesterday I was in the store and the lovely lawns were on sale for a dollar less per yard than the original sale price i had paid. How could I walk away from that? 

I bought a pink splotchy version.  I plan on making two of the same shirt now, but just how will I make them? That's my dilemma? 

You see, from the get-go I envisioned  the keyhole and the neckline to have a tiny bias binding with long ties that would be tied in soft little loops like Lucy's.  I also wanted and assumed there would be flat cuffs for the sleeves. 

That is not what the pattern has in mind, however. But, first, let's get something straight. I have no issue with facings at all. I know some do. That's them. I've made them for years and I have bound edges for years. Makes no difference to me skill wise. Now, stylistically, that's a different story. I had in my mind this delicate, floaty wisp of a shirt with teeny bound edges, French seams, etc. You can see in the pattern directions, which are perfectly fine, that is not quite what I would get if I follow them. 

I had more in mind what I saw in this tutorial from Threads Magazine and this other one from Emmaonesock. 

So, that is my dilemma. I have two pieces of lovely fabric, perfect for the pattern design. Here are the pros and cons of the methods. 

Pros of Pattern Method: 

   *If I just understitch, the keyhole and neckline would have a really clean turned edge. I like that idea a lot. 

     * Interfacing will offer support for the neckline and keyhole area which will in turn offer some support to the xtra weight of the puffy sleeves. 

Cons: 

     * This is a fussier construction, in my opinion, with more steps.

      * Possible show thru of the facing to the top of the garment. Don't know yet. 

Pros of Tiny Binding Method:

   * Delicate looking, in line with the delicacy of the color and print. 

   * Would accentuate the near sheerness of the fabric. 

   * Would not take as long to do as the facing treatment. 

 Cons:

    * No support offered for any area.  Tips of the  keyhole will really droop if not tied tightly. 

     * Would be harder to correct mistakes. 

     * Would look almost  sheer and thin. Not sure if that is good or bad.  

     * Would it look cheaper? Not sure.....

So, here is what I have decided............I am going to try each technique on each of the shirts. I think. Deal breaker would be my first shirt is so fabulous I will just stick with that method. The first shirt will be the blue one, with facings. What would you do and/or what do you think?......Bunny.......my threads are ready for your answers! Happy Sewing!