For the first project in my little challenge, I picked out some red and white viscose that's been hanging around in my stash for a couple of years. I had a rummage through the pattern box and found this Keyhole Blouse pattern by Simple Sew. Thought it might end up being a top for work? Hmmmm...
I started by sewing the pleats in the front bodice section. I struggled with this a little bit to be fair - I couldn't work out from the instructions which way the pleats were supposed to go, as the diagrams weren't exactly clear, with one showing a totally different way to the other. So, I did what I thought looked best and plodded on. Once I'd finished sewing the pleats it looked ok, all was well.
As I worked my way through the pattern I did think that the instructions were a bit minimal. I'm sure that a beginner would have struggled with the lack of direction. The worst was when I got to the neckline.
I was quite surprised that there was no facing for the V neckline, so went ahead and added one in anyway. I didn't think the neckline would sit very nice without it, especially as the fabric I was using was pretty drapey. I was also a tad worried that the V would show a little more cleavage than I would like, and a quick try on confirmed my suspicions. I had a feeling this may have been the case when I was pinning the pattern out, as the V looked huge!
In an effort to try and salvage the top, I sewed the point of the V up a couple of centimetres. Then it was onto the bias binding to be attached to the entire neckline. I hoped this would hold the V together a little more too.
The instructions for the bias binding neckline were terrible! Basically it just said to sew to the neckline making sure you enclose all raw edges - no mention of trimming the seam allowance or clipping the curves at all! As mentioned I had hoped that this final stage might pull the V together a little but alas, the top still has a "porn neckline" (my Gary's words!) hence the finished article being modelled by Dolly and not me.
So, first project completed but unfortunately unwearable. It's going in the charity bag (along with the other couple of Simple Sew patterns I found in my stash) in the hope that it will fit someone else without their boobs trying to escape through the keyhole. It's a proper shame that my first pattern wasn't successful, but at least its finished so not a total disaster. And its taken 2m off my fabric stash total! Next project is cut out ready to go - onwards and upwards eh!
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