Lottie Blouse #2: Hacking the Pattern
I promised there would be more Lottie blouses! This one is actually my third, but I still didn’t get around to taking pictures of the first one (which is still my favourite).
Except for the alterations I made to the pattern this time, there isn’t much new to say about the pattern (I wrote a review here). This blouse came together veeery quickly. I decided to skip the sleeves this time, so the actual sewing took no longer than 1.5 hours.
I made some changes to the pattern:
I lengthened the hem and made the back longer than the front. I like the length, but I will make it slightly shorter the next time I sew this version. My muslin was a tiny bit shorter than I liked it, so I added a bit more generously to the length and didn’t bother to make a second toile. For the next one I am also planning on making a smoother/curved transition between back and front, but I like to keep the high-low effect.
I used some off-white polyester fabric which I bought at Goldhawk Road during the NYLon’14 meet up. For me the fabric is just the right amount of see-through. The black fabric is also manmade, very soft and drapey and I am pretty sure it’s some sort of polyester/viscose mix. It’s from 5m of Sari fabric I got for just £6 at my local thrift store. What a steal!
I paired the blouse with a refashioned pair of shorts. These used to be long, wide Mexx trousers I got from my mum which just had a very odd, slightly too short length. As I can never find shorts which aren’t too short for my taste, I decided to use this pair, chopped the legs off right above the knee and turned the hem over twice. I sewed the hem in place by hand to keep the rolled up effect.
The trousers are made from a very nice suiting fabric (polyethene/viscose/spandex) which was great to work with. I wear them all the time now – I love those very easy and quick refashion projects. Sometimes it only takes a few minutes and a couple of stitches to make a garment loveable again.
Happy sewing!
♥
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Ahhh, our flat smells heavenly! One of the many benefits of making your own soap. I love making soap because you can create the perfect soap bar with your favourite fragrances and ingredients. And, believe me, picking up the finished soap bar for the first time and smelling it is such a bliss!
1. Make sure your silicone mould is clean and dry. I placed it on a wooden board, so I could move it while the soap wasn’t completely hardened yet.
2. Cut your soap base into smaller cubes with a knife and place them in a clean bowl.
3. Before you melt the soap base, make sure you have all ingredients handy. The soap hardens quite quickly, so it’s better to zest the orange/grapefruit and open any plastic bags before you start melting the base.
6. Let the soap harden. It only takes a couple of hours, but if you want to be on the safe side you can leave it in there over night. I put a piece of paper over the silicone mold to keep the soap dust-free.
Grapefruit / mint / poppy seed: zest of half a grapefruit, 10 drops of grapefruit oil, 3 drops of mint oil, 1tbsp poppy seeds.
I wrapped the soap bars in recycled paper (I cut strips out of a shopping bag), which I taped together on the bottom.
Before I gave some of the soap bars away to friends and family, I wrapped them in music paper (which I had printed out) and attached small labels with twine.
May I present to you – the Lottie blouse! Probably my new favourite pattern. It hasn’t been featured too much in the online sewing community, though, perhaps because the only chance to get hold of it is by buying the latest issue of Love Sewing Magazine. I didn’t like the magazine too much (it’s only their second issue) and mainly bought it because of the Lottie pattern set (skirt and blouse) and the cute tape measure that came with it.
I really love the fit of the blouse and the pattern probably works best with drapey fabrics. For this blouse I used a viscose/polyester fabric with an elephant print, that didn’t drape as well as I thought it would, but I still like how the blouse turned out. I also made a bright red version with a very lightweight rayon fabric (my favourite of the three I’ve made so far); I will share this one with you another time.
I bought the fabric on Walthamstow Market the other day when I was shopping with Dani. Next to the elephants I also got the same fabric in a different colour and a super adorable scottie print. I suppose the scotties will be used for a Mimi blouse, which is on top of my to-sew list at the moment.
I used the Tie-Side Pinafore pattern from
Four fronts and backs, eight pockets and sixteen straps later…
The front is not only reversible, but you can also switch the fronts between the different pinafores in whatever combination you want. I also made some matching diaper covers, but I still have to figure out sizes. The first one was a bit too small the second way too big.
I looooove the Winnie the Pooh fabric, it’s just too adorable. I have so much left that I will probably make a quilted playing mat. I always wanted to try quilting and I think this would be a good project to start with.
