Plum blossom blouse

Lately I've been really into stripes and solids, but this print was just irresistible. As soon as the first taste of spring hit, I pulled it out and set to work.

Here is a closeup of the print of plum or apple blossoms, with a hand drawn pen-and-ink and watercolor look. It was from emmaonesock, printed on a light and floaty cotton voile.

I made a Liesl Classic shirt, with my usual modifications... no bust dart, extra ease.

I did tweak the sleeves for a slightly romantic vibe. I added lots of extra ease by slashing and spreading, then gathered it in with pleats at the binding. I left off the cuff and tower placket and added a bias bound sleeve placket and bias bound the sleeve with a loop for the button closure. 

The buttons are mother of pearl buttons that I dropped in some intense pink dye when I was dying fabric awhile ago. They might have a very slight pink tint... or that might just be my imagination!

The other change I always make with the Liesl shirt is to round the curve of the hem at the side seam so that I can bind it with one continuous piece of bias binding. I find this the easiest and cleanest way to hem my shirts.

A floral woven shirt is actually a first in my wardrobe. Can't wait for the plum trees to bloom so that I can camouflage myself in a tree ;).

Not to mention the fact that shirts are about all one gets to show off in the many zoom meetings that now comprise my life. A new one is a fun change.

My daughter broke her arm this weekend! She's a trooper... and it is probably the most exciting thing that has happened to her since the schools closed.

Pucci Dress turned Classic Shirt

I've always admired Emilio Pucci patterns, so when I found this one I bought it up right away!

I made it up into a hybrid Liesl Classic Shirt/Kalle Dress. This was made as part of my entry for the Pattern Review Sewing Bee Finale, you can read the details here. The challenge was to design a "superhero" outfit, so this dress was for a supermom, and is embedded with sayings about patience-- something moms can never have too much of!

I added a few details to make this dress extra special, in honor of the contest and the lovely Pucci print. I added volume to the sleeves by slashing and spreading, then gathering the excess at the cuffs. I made a hidden button placket and piped with a solid fusia sateen. And I added a deep border trim with mitered side slits. 

The border fabric (which is also used as the cuff facing and, collar stand, and inside yoke) is linen with hand painted script on it, done in colors to match the print, with sayings about "Patience."

The pockets have a little something extra... one has "Patience" embroidered inside, as a tactile reminder, and the other has an embroidered daisy, a reminder to "stop and smell the flowers."

In practical wearing, the dress ended up having a few major flaws. The first is that the cotton shirting sticks like velcro to all of my tights! In the pictures above, I'm wearing knee-highs to alleviate that problem.

Second, which is related to the first-- the short length was chosen to work with leggings! I love the proportions of a long sleeve dress that falls mid thigh, but for modesty, I would almost always wear leggings of some sort with a dress of this length, but due to the velcro problem stated above, this is not practical.

What about a slip you say? I've always found slips to be incredibly fussy, and if I sew something that I think I'll need a slip for, I tend to just line it instead. I've since thrown away all of my old polyester slips, and making a few natural fiber slips is on my long list, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

There is also the problem of drape. I generally don't mind a slightly crisp drape in a shirt dress-- it is a shirt dress afterall. Somehow, though, the drape on this dress just didn't feel right to me.

Soooooo... after it sat around in my closet unworn for a month or so, I CHOPPED IT! Made it into a shirt. And I love it.

I left a long, dramatic tail, and finished the hem with bias tape that matches the piping.

There is something about this bold print that just works for me in a shirt. Sedate lower half, dramatic upper. And the crispness is perfect for a shirt.

I'm wearing it here with linen True Bias pants, showing all of the wrinkles of having sat at my desk for too many hours this afternoon. I've worn it twice in two weeks since making it into a shirt, the colors fit the spring-y weather!