Ruffle Blouse (M5522)

Another blouse for the wardrobe. This pattern was a Best Pattern of 2009 at PR but unfortunately, has been discontinued by McCalls. It can still be seen on their website.

For some reason, this blouse took me forever; there are many pieces and lots of gathering and of course, 9 buttonholes / buttons take awhile. I basted the blouse together every step of the way to make sure everything worked perfectly and I must say, I am thrilled with how it turned out. I will definitely use this pattern again. I cut the blouse out before I discovered that I have a broad back so I didn't make that adjustment. Next time, I will add a 1" increase to eliminate the minor pulling at the back. Otherwise, I would make it exactly as I did this time.

Size: I used size 10 on top, including sleeves with the A/B cup; I graded to a 12-14 at waist and hips.
Fabric: Tomato red stretch cotton

After I finished this shirt and modeled it with a black skirt, I realized it looked very similar to my "uniform" when I was a waitress at Ground Round in college. We had to wear red blouses and black skirts and I had a ruffled front blouse. LOL. I hope I don't look like a waitress!

Color Block Copy Cat dress (Vogue 1336)

Early last fall, I saw the dress below in a magazine and wanted to recreate it. Voila!!

In spite of all the color block dress patterns out there, I couldn't find one that I thought would work until Vogue came out with their spring patterns and I saw this Sandra Betzina pattern. Link to Vogue 1336

As you can see in the line drawing, it wasn't exactly what I wanted so I redesigned the bodice and skirt pieces to work. I have very little experience in editing designs so I made a sample first (Sidenote: The ugly colors in the sample can be attributed to online purchases that were not quite what I was expecting!)




Fabric: Ponte knits in cream, taupe and black
Size: I started with size B, which matches my measurements but the pattern runs a bit big so I cut it back to the smallest size A.
Alterations: I didn't want the hem band so I omitted that but added 2" to the length of the dress and did a 2" hem. (I am 5' 3.5" for comparison.)

Overall, I love my knockoff. I wish I had lowered the v more. I actually DID lower it but when I had to adjust the shoulder seam, I accidentally raised it. Oopsie! This dress will be a nice work basic.

Asymmetrical T-shirt (KS3790)

Pattern description: Close fitting tops have asymmetrical front neckline finished with facings, front shoulder inset with gathers, and gathers on left front.Cap sleeve or long sleeve options. (I opted to shorten the long sleeve top rather than use the cap sleeve.)
Size: Seems to be generously sized. I started with a small but scaled it back to the extra small.
Fabric: A light-medium weight stretchy knit. Unknown source.

Link to Pattern

Love this pattern. The horrible photo doesn't show the side scrunching very well but it's a very cute design and I will likely make more.