Last christmas, I gave you my heart I got this gorgeous navy bird fabric as a gift. I immediately knew it was going to be a blouse/tunic kind of thing.
I started with Tilly’s Mathilde Blouse pattern as a base. The first muslin turned out okay, but the front neckline sat very tightly while the back neckline was gaping a little. Also, the blouse would ride up when I raised my arms. I fixed this by cutting one size bigger, adding small darts to the back neckline and letting the front neckline out a little at the shoulder seams.
| Pattern: | Mathilde Blouse by Tilly and the Buttons, but heavily altered |
| Size: | 4 |
| Fabric: | navy printed cotton (“Flight” by Michael Miller) from the lovely Fabric HQ (UK) |
| Alterations: | – omitted the yoke and front pleats, drafted my own sleeves – finished with flat felled seams – lengthened by about 4 cm, took in side seams – added two small darts to the back neckline – lengthened cuff bands by about 2 cm and cut them in size 1 |
| Make Again? | Yes! In a solid colour with the design details, though. |
When I layed out my fashion fabric, I realized that the beautiful design details on the front would pretty much disappeared in the busy print. So I omitted both the yoke and the pleats as well as the puffed sleeves – the fabric just wasn’t lightweight enough for them. Lastly, I took in the side seams a bit to make the blouse a bit more fitted. So if it wasn’t for the buttons on the back, you probably wouldn’t recognize the pattern anymore.
I am a bit embarassed for frankenpatterning poor Mathilde just like that.
However, I am really satisfied with this blouse. It was one of those projects were I took all my time and patience because I just love the fabric so damn much and didn’t want to screw it up. The insides are finished with selfmade bias tape and flat felled seams which looks very neat and “professional”.
Frankenpatterned Mathilde already got worn a lot these past weeks. I love everything about it. The fabric. The cut. The fit. It just feels like “me”. Plus, it’s one of those garments that you can just throw on with a nice necklace and a simple black skirt and look effortlessly chic. I love it.
On a completely different note: Am I the only one who thought that button back blouses had to get unbuttoned to come off? I always imagined it to be kinda tricky to open and close buttons with your hands on your back. Until I found out that you can just pull these blouses over your head. Who would have thought?
