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Spring Capsule: Floral Blouse
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Another blouse for spring. Yay! After yesterday's wardrobe purge, this one is hanging there in sparse company. Every pair of pants that I made last year has to go. I can fasten them, but it ain't a pretty picture. Most of my old blouses are ratty, so I'm glad to have this one and the new batik blouse ready to wear--once I get a camisole for this one, that is.
This blouse has some nice features that I will use again. I love the gathering on the shoulder and below the back yoke. I also like the rounded collar--I figure it's about time for that to come back in style.
I marked the waist on the draft, thinking that I might like some little tucks or something there. That didn't work.
To make the back yoke, I first rotated the shoulder dart to the armhole, then cut the yoke off the top of the back piece. Next, I cut 1.25" off the front shoulder and added it to the back shoulder. Finally, I made a whole yoke piece using PE's Mirror tool.
On the front, I rotated the bust dart to the shoulder by thirds and smoothed a curve over the seamline. IOW, I selected 3 points along the shoulder line and rotated 1/3 of the bust dart to each place. Then I smoothed the seam.
For the back gathers, I simply added 1.5" to the width at the center back.
To round the collar point, I just played with the curve until I liked the looks of it. 
The sleeve is, of course, shortened. Since the shortest sleeve in PMB is 9" and that is never short enough for me, I generally draft to full length and cut them off to suit myself. While I'm on the subject of sleeves, the hem for the sleeves always drafts to 1" and I like 1.25" hem allowance. That's another reason never to fool with PMB's short sleeve drafts.
Note to self: With this blouse I finally figured out how to get the Bernina to start the buttonholes in the right place: With the presser foot raised, lower the needle onto the starting mark! Duh.
- Garment Type= Blouse
- Style= Classic Blouse
- Closure= Single Breasted
- Front Neckline= Jewel
- Back Neckline= Jewel
- Yoke= No Yoke
- Hemline Shape= Straight
- Darts= Side
- Upper Back Dart= Shoulder
- Sideseam shape= Fitted
- Front Waist Darts= 2
- Back Waist Darts= 2
- Front Neckline Depth= 0.5
- Back Neckline Depth= 0.25
- Neckline Width= 0.25
- Neckline Point= 0
- Armhole Depth= 0
- Dart Override= 0
- Shoulder Dart Position= 0
- Drop Shoulder= 1 (No I didn't!)
- Side/Arm Point=-0.5
- Side/Hip Point=-0.5
- Sleeve Style= Set In
- Sleeve Underarm Seam= Tapered
- Sleeve Cap Ease=1.06
- Sleeve Length=23.5
- Sleeve Hem Circumference=8.5
- Sleeve Cap Height= -0.25
- Front Armhole Shape Right=-0.2 Clicks
- Collar Style= Dress Shirt
- Collar Width=2
- Chest Ease= 4
- Waist Ease=2.5
- Hip Ease= 4
Thanks! When I saw your latest shirt with the gathers, I thought "Oops, I'm copying Debbie again, but this time I didn't know it!"
I like the full yoke primarily because I'm lazy and I don't want to move the pattern piece to cut it on the fold twice. The other reason is that I usually cut yokes with the lengthwise grain horizontally across the yoke, rather than vertically.
Posted by Beth H at April 13, 2006 11:50 AM
Nah, I knew you weren't copying me. But I may be copying you! I really like the collar. And a big Duh! to me about the yoke. Of *course* it's easier to cut two at once in full instead of separately on the fold. Now, why didn't I think of that!
Posted by Debbie C at April 13, 2006 05:45 PM
Beth, I really like your blouse. You and Debbie C do such great things with PMB. I am still a novice with the program though have owned it for years.
Posted by Linda L at April 14, 2006 09:41 AM
Lovely spring blouse, Beth! I'm a big fan of shoulder gathers in lieu of darts too. I gotta ask ... why did you make the back yoke pattern full size instead of cut-on-fold?
Posted by Debbie C at April 13, 2006 10:37 AM