Oops - I accidently just...

...clicked my way into buying both of these!

McCall 5970 - I'm excited about these blouses and trying raglan sleeves!

Simplicity 9262 - I love View 1 with the sash tied in a bow

There's a sale going on over at Katherine's shop, ZipZapKap on Etsy, if you use her coupon code created in celebration of WeSewRetro's 1 year anniversary in its new home. Yay!

Check it outtttttt.

Stripe /plaid Matching...

Blerg.

This is the plaid skirt I'm currently working on. I'd thought I knew what I was getting myself into with a skirt that has many seams (it seems!) and lots of plaid to match up. What I didn't realize before cutting into this plaid wool from my stash is that the repeat of this plaid is...rectangular? The plaid pattern is not made up of squares...so I'm trying to match it up like I would stripes, as best I can... without losing my mind.

Flaunting my plaid-matching mistakes

I'm sure I could actually match it up just right (right?) if I just kept trying...meticulously, but I am at the point where I will honestly still find the thing cute and wearable even if the stripes/plaids aren't matched perfectly...it's just a SKIRT, not an evening gown. Right?
 
It seems like I was only able to make the lines come together in a chevron-y way ...mostly. Then, they mysteriously stop matching up exactly right, part way through.

chevron-y matching...kinda

Perhaps this has nothing to do with the shape of the repeating plaid pattern, but whatever. I'm only a perfectionist about certain things, and I guess I'm ok with this not being perfect.

Consider this my disclaimer for when I actually share the finished project. :)

Finished Project: Sunny Gingham Bow Blouse

So, I finished this blouse on Friday and started wearing it immediately. Did I mention that this blouse pattern is my JAM? Because it is. I love it!

That's right, it's another Simplicity 2154. After making my polka-dotted version, I knew I'd be making more of these babies. It recently struck me that I needed one in gingham...yellow gingham.

my newest Simplicity 2154 blouse - you can see my first version peeking out behind it!

it can be worn with the neckline clasped, or not!

back closeup

It's such a satisfying project to sew up!

• I love collars
• it has no zippers or buttonholes (when you omit them, like I do)
• no sleeves to set in
• pattern pieces are all set up for you to make self-bias strips to finish the armholes and neckline
• there's a cute keyhole opening in the back, which is easy to do and looks good!
• that's all I can think of

back of blouse and collar closeup

The things I did differently for this version of the blouse were to make the collar about an inch smaller, use french seams for the side seams, underline the lightweight poly/cotton gingham with cotton batiste, leave the peek-a-boo opening at the front neckline open at the top to be fastened with a little hook & eye, omitted the bow in the original pattern.

insides, with turned and stitched seams and cute bias strip finished armholes and neckline.

I'm sure there will be move of these bow (or sans bow) blouses popping up around here in the future, but for now I'm dreaming about what I mentioned in my last post. ...and fall/winter sewing in general.

Anise by Colette Patterns

While digging through all of my winter-weight wools and fabric, I found some nice plaid that I'm setting up for a cozy fall/winter skirt. You can spot a few glimpses of it in the background of the last blouse pictures above.

More soon!