Sisters of Edwardia Blouse

Transcription

1 Sisters of Edwardia Blouse Sisters of Edwardia is inspired by the several blouses Lady Edith and Lady Sybil wear in the period drama Downton Abbey. The blouse features relaxed-fit elbow length kimono sleeves with an underarm gusset to allow free range of motion. The wide, shallow neckline is finished with exterior facings, which are either top stitched or hand-stitched in place. The blouse is gathered into the midriff section, which closes with an invisible zip. Exterior facings, sleeve bands, and waistband section are made from a contrast material. Materials: o m/(yd) Lightweight silk and silk-like fabrics, lightweight cottonsgingham, voile, batiste. Lightweight linen. o Contrast may be slightly heavier or denser fabric than the blouse section. o Scraps of interfacing o Invisible zipper

2 Cutting: Sizing: Choose the blouse size according to the chart- choose the size closest to your full bust measurement. Ease: For a closer fitting blouse, please go down a size (15cm) of ease is built into the blouse as part of the design. Choose the waistband size according to your waist measurement in inches. Notes: o ¼ (6mm) seam allowances EXCEPT at waist section side seams and bottom edges of facings. o The sleeve band should be cut on the bias, but it also works to cut it on the straight. It just doesn t sew together as well. o Transfer all dots and s to wrong side of fabric with chalk or dressmaker s pen. The gussets will be easy if you mark properly and tortuous if you do not. o Regular stitch: stitch length; backstitch to secure o Top stitch: 3.0 stitch length; backstitch to secure

3 o Basting Stitch: longest machine stitch, no backstitching o Finish - This protects the raw edge from fraying and wear. Use a triple-stitch zig zag, a serger/overlocker, or your favorite method. Bound seams are not advisable for this blouse. Sewing Instructions: Prep Steps- 1. Stay Stitch neck edges ½ (12mm) in from raw edge to prevent neckline stretching during construction. 2. Fuse scraps of lightweight fusible interfacing over the underarm section. Make sure you can see your gusset markings. Remark if necessary. 3. Stay stitch (baste) along the lines on the underarm section. 4. Between the on both front and back blouse pieces, sew two lines of long gathering stitches at ¼ and ½ from the raw edge. Blouse Construction- 5. Stitch shoulder seams. Finish, press toward the back. Do not stretch the bias as you sew, listen to the fabric. 6. Stitch shoulder seams on exterior neck facings. Press seam open. 7. Using a long basting stitch, sew ½ from the raw outer edge of the exterior facing. Press the raw edge to the wrong side, using the basting as your guide. Trim away about half of the turned under edge so it lies flat. 8. Careful- Align the raw neck edge of the blouse with the raw edge of the facing- the RIGHT side of the facing to the WRONG side of the blouse. Stitch with a ¼ (6mm) seam allowance. Understitch through the blouse layer and the seam, leaving the facing out of the stitching. The narrow seam allowance shouldn t need much or any trimming. 9. Fold the neck facing to the outside of the blouse. Press again. Pin gratuitously, taking care that the facing lies flat against the blouse. Then top stitch close to the folded edge of the facing, or slip stitch in place for an invisible finish. 10. Sew each underarm seam from the dots (match them carefully) to the sleeve opening edge. If the sleeve opening edges do not match up, trim it so it is smooth. (Sometimes fabric shifts during stitching and handling.) 11. Sew each side seam from the dot to the bottom edge of the blouse.

4 Gusset: 12. Piece 7 is the gusset. It should have dots in each corner. Carefully cut up to the underarm dot on the blouse pieces. Align one dot on one corner of the gusset piece to the underarm dot. Pin right at the dot. Match another corner dot on the gusset to a dot at the top of a seam. Pin carefully on the dot. The raw edges will not match up. Then stitch from one dot to the other, backstitching at the beginning and the end of the seam. Make sure not to catch any other layers of the blouse in the stitching. If you do, pull the stitches out because it will cause a pucker. It is better to sew just short of the dots than to overshoot them and make puckers. Sew one side, then the opposite side, then a third side and a fourth side, matching dots on the gusset to dots on the blouse. Repeat for the other side.

5 Double check that your gusset has no puckers. If it is puckered at a corner, you probably sewed too far through a dot and it can be fixed by unpicking a few stitches. Once it is smooth, finish the raw edges. You may have to finish each seam separately. Press the gusset carefully over a tailor s ham or a rolled up towel as shown. Repeat gusset steps for the other side. Sleeve Bands: o Sew each short end of the sleeve band together with a ¼ (6mm) seam allowance and press the seam open. You ll have a ring shape. o Fold in half lengthwise, wrong sides together and press.

6 o Matching the underarm seam to the seam on the sleeve band, and matching raw edges, position the band around the bottom edge of the right side of the blouse. o Stitch, using a ¼ (6mm) seam allowance. Finish. Press the seam towards the sleeve. Repeat for other sleeve. Waistband Section: o You should have 2 pieces of each front and back waistband piece for a total of 4 pieces. One is the exterior, the other is the facing. If your fabric is very lightweight, you may want to fuse lightweight interfacing to the exterior waistband pieces. o Stitch one front to one back at the left side seam, using a ½ (12mm) seam allowance. Press seam open. Repeat for other set of waistband pieces. Check to be sure that the fronts and backs match up when you lie the waistband pieces on top of each other, wrong sides together. o Sew the invisible zipper to the exterior waist sections at the other side seam. Match the top of the zipper to the bottom edge of the waistband section. Some of the zipper should hang off the other edge. You want this. o Open the zipper. Matching lower raw edges and side seams, pin the lower raw edges of the waistband section together. When you reach the zipper, sandwich the zipper between the exterior and interior waistband pieces. Pin. o Starting from the top edge of the waistband, stitch halfway between the zipper coils and the raw edge. When you reach the lower edge, stop ¼ (12mm) from the raw edge with the needle in the fabric. Stop, pivot the fabric, and sew around the bottom edge of the waistband. Pivot at the other corner and stitch halfway between the raw edge and the zipper coils as before. Backstitch. o Trim corners and turn the waistband section right side out. Press. Top-stitch the edges if desired. o Baste along entire top edge of waistband section, including the zipper. Trim zipper. Completion: o With right sides together, match on waistband pieces to on blouse pieces, and match side seams. Match center front notches. Match center back notches. Pull up gathering stitches, winding them carefully around the pins to secure them. Distribute gathers evenly with your fingers. Unevenly distributed gathers are unsightly.

7 o Stitch, using a ¼ (6mm) seam allowance. Finish. Press seam toward blouse. C est finis. If your fabric is very fluid or lightweight, you may prefer to insert hook and eye tape in the waistband side seam instead of a zipper; however, this worked well on the test versions. Tiling: