I found myself wearing my original version of The Sassy Librarian Blouse so much, that I knew I needed to sew another one.  This time, instead of 100% cotton quilting fabric, I used 100% cotton voile.  The fabric has a lightweight hand, similar to batiste.  It is an Anna Maria Horner voile print.

When I made this blouse for the first time last fall, I increased the length of the front vertical darts by 2″ because the blouse seemed to be a bit boxy.  This time, I did not increase the length of those darts because the fabric drapes so nicely that it doesn’t have that boxy feel to it.  Here’s a closer view of the wide collar.  You can also see the drape better in this photo.

One of my favorite details of this pattern is the shaping that the back vertical darts give.  The shaping shows up quite prominently from the side view.

All in all, this is a comfortable alternative to knit tops.  I always wear it very casually just as I wear t-shirts.  The voile fabric also washes up nicely (no need for gently cycle) and it doesn’t require ironing if I remove it from the dryer as soon as it is dry.   If you like the feel of batiste or lawn, give the Anna Maria Horner voile a try.  You most likely will not be disappointed.

Happy Sewing,

Pam

I was in need of a shorter jacket to wear with my new Colette Meringue skirt (and jeans, and capris, and slacks – you get the idea!).  This Project Runway inspired pattern, Simplicity 2728, was the answer.



Worn with my Colette Meringue skirt – beautiful, bright spring colors make me happy   🙂

Here it is with skinny, black corduroy pants, which is more weather appropriate since *sigh* it is raining and snowing here today:

Speaking of lining, I really like the way this pattern has a facing that goes around the entire outer edge of the jacket, so the lining is attached completely to the facing (no messy hemming – well, my hemming is usually messy anyway!).  The facing is then sewn onto the outer edges of the jacket.  It gives such a nice, clean finished edge around the whole inside of the jacket.

Before sewing the lining to the facing, part of one side seam in left open for turning.

After sewing the facing, with lining attached, to the outer jacket, the open side seam in the lining can easily be hand sewn closed.

I used an itty bitty overcast stitch to close up the opening in the lining

I prefer to wear my sweaters and jackets buttoned just below the bust line and not all the way down to the hem, so I added only one button to the front of this jacket.  Why add all those buttons and buttonholes is I’m not going to use them?