FO: Simplicity 2501 in Black

When I first saw this pattern, my initial reaction was horror and scorn. That white polyester 80's-esque monster with the girly bow tie and puffy fluffy sleeves? Eeurgh!



Then I made the tamer (pleated sleeve) version in a purple dobby dot... and found I wore it at least once a week. My eye became more accustomed to big sleeves and my daughter stunned me by expressing a preference for the puffier design. So I decided to give it a try.







The fabric was left over from making a dress for The Girl over a year ago and came from Favourite Fabrics at eeebaaay - they still sell it.


It has alternating bands of dobby dots and ladder-work embroidery and is definitely a summer-weight cotton. The season has moved on since the day I cut it out!

Those sleeves (which have a culture and language of their own...) have a centred strip of bias binding on the inside, to form a casing for a short length of elastic. Pulled up, this makes those larger-than-life gathers, on top of an already tightly-gathered sleeve top.

I have reservations about the resulting silhouette, but I think I get away with it in black. It has a kind of Edwardian feel... which might have been improved by having full-length sleeves, but I didn't have enough fabric.

Stats:
Simplicity 2501, View B with View D sleeves, size 10 with the B-cup front pieces.
Fabric: Approx 1.4 metres of black dobby / ladderstitch cotton from Favourite fabrics, here. Oh look - it's reduced in price! : )
Buttons: Vintage black glass, bought for my 1940's tea dress. I still have loads of these left on the card, which only cost me 99p!

Verdict:

There is no doubt that I will wear this blouse to work. It ticks so many boxes: it is black, it looks smart, and yet it has a funky vintage-looking twist. The buttons are exactly right.

My only mistake was to use white elastic - it shines through the ladderstitch stripes -duh!

Would I make it again?

Not sure. How many tie-neck blouses does one wardrobe need? And the sleeves are a bit of a "statement"! But the basic fit is pretty good, so I will definitely keep this pattern in mind for future work blouses. I could always change the neck / sleeves.

Yay - I sewed something in Self-Stitched September!