Monday, April 23, 2018

Collars, Facings, Necklines and a Blog Tour

The days of having a four-year-old in the studio to model for me are long gone (she's in secondary school now!), so I had to make do with a clothes line.  Still, these little blouses swinging in the breeze looked sweet and made me happy today.


They're all made from the same base pattern, with the collar, necklines, sleeves and facings altered to vary the design. You guessed it... using the patternmaking and sewing techniques from my book The Savvy Seamstress.


We launched the book at Can Do Books in December, but until recently, I haven't had much time or brain-space to to promote the it (you might have followed my "why" on Instagram ).  However, now I'm all about the BLOG AND INSTAGRAM TOUR.

You can see what other people have made and sneak a few more glimpses inside the book if you follow along. There will also be givaways, so you might like to hop on board.

The tour schedule is as follows:

And now, a closer look at those little blouses...

This is a simple little button-fronted number with cap sleeves and a round neckline. It has a full neckline facing that also covers the button area. (The book will also show you how to make this design detail on a pattern that originally had a zippered back and no front opening, or on one that previously had a collar.)

An easy alteration from here is to change the shape of the neckline (and maybe the arrangement of the buttons into 3 sets of 2...?).


Alternatively, you can add a Peter Pan Collar. This one has a simple binding on the neckline and a folded facing.


Or you can raise the neckline and add a collar. This one (below) has a higher neckline and a slightly higher "roll" on the collar. It also has cute little 3/4 sleeves (..ahem... because of a "design opportunity" that arose when I cut two sleeves in the same direction from the small amount of fabric that I had, and then arrived at my local fabric store half an hour after the last on the bolt was sold... and I had a deadline.... Aargh...).

And it has cuffs on the sleeves. Aren't they cute in a kids' size 5?


And just like this one, it has a Convertible Collar style finish (with a neckline facing on the garment front).


(But this one has full length sleeves.)

The same kinds of alterations can be made on dresses, shirts and blouses, and all these patternmaking and sewing techniques are included in the book.  

Please note that this blouse pattern is one that I use in classes and is not yet developed for sale. There was a plan to have this done before the book was launched, but life and its curve-balls got in the way.... It's on the to-do list!  

So - watch this space, and watch the blog and instagram tour. There'll be more Savvy Seamstress news and opportunities to win yourself a copy.


4 comments:

Anorina @SameliasMum said...

Congratulations on your new book.

MyLittleBlueDog said...

Nice to see a new blog post from you. Congratulations on the new book. Nice to see how you can save a blouse when you have made an error cutting out.

2paw said...

Congratulations on your new book, I am always happy when a post from you pops up in my feed. Good luck with the hop. The little blouses are indeed inordinately cute!!

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