Maria Denmark Edith Blouse

I've had so much fun with the free Kirsten Kimono Tee from Maria Denmark that I knew I wanted to try another of her patterns. So here's my version of her Edith Blouse.

 

Edith is a shapely little blouse, with a bit of a retro feel. There are bust darts and fisheye darts (or are they french darts?) in both back and front,  and the side seams are curved to allow you to showcase that hourglass silouette. That's if you have an hourglass silouette. As a brick, I don't display this blouse as it deserves, but I do like it a lot!

 

Can you tell there's a little shaping in the back there?



I used a remnant of a nice, substantial cotton that I got at Bolt while we were visiting Portland in August. I had just enough for the blouse, so it must have been meant to be.

I test drove Edith at the Santa Cruz County Fair a couple of weeks ago and it wore very nicely. It was a warm, end of summer day. The little kimono sleeves kept my shoulders out of the sun but I was cool and comfortable while eating fresh churned ice cream and roasted corn on the cob. I was tempted to put it through it's paces on the mechanical bull, but there were too may little kids in line ahead of me.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.

A Little Something

I got a touch of sewing fever last week and completed my trial version of this pattern:

This is A Little Somethin' Jacket from CNT Patterns. I got it for myself as a souvenir from Sew Creative, in Ahsland, while we were there to see Two Gentlemen of Verona. Sew Creative gives a class on making this jacket, and if I lived closer than 410 miles I would sign up in a heartbeat. I bet it would be a guaranteed good time.

Instead I had to muscle through on my own, which turned out not to be so bad at all. There were a couple of tricky bits, like having to pivot a few tight corners while constructing the shawl collar, but the instructions were very clear and it all worked out fine.

I had seen a few samples of the pattern made up at Sew Creative and thought that the simple shape would let me play with a special fabric. It would even be fun to try something artsy, like stenciling.

To me, the style is a bit like the waterfall cardigans that I've been admiring on all my sewing lady's blogs, but with a bit less volume than some of the patterns I've researched. As a short brick I worry about too much fabric floating loose around my mid-section. This pattern has a pretty flat back and just a few ripples at the front lapels. As a waterfall, it's more of a Bridal Veil than a Niagara.

I used some fairly heavy, drap-y rayon jacquard I got at Loes Hines shop in Carmel years ago, when I was first beginning to be enchanted by sewing again. If you're ever in the area, it's a blast to stop by. The shop is stocked with gorgeous clothes made from her designs in a variety of really luscious fabrics. She used to sell her patterns there too, along with some truly beautiful fabric remnants, but last time I stopped by she had carved it down to just the finished clothing. So fun to try on.

I really love this fabric, but I think as a jacket it's a bit too "me" colored. Of course, back when I bought it my hair wasn't quite so grey so there was a little more contrast. It would probably look better with a scarf, or a blouse with a smooth neckline and a bit more color. And something besides wrinkled twill trousers. Overall I do like the neutral color and I think the drape of the fabric is really nice for this pattern. I'm glad I finally bit the bullet and cut into this yardage, instead of taking it out to pet every 3 years and then re-stashing.

My review of the pattern is at PatternReview.com here.