I can’t remember how many summers I’ve had this piece of tan gingham stretch shirting in my stash, but I do remember that I’ve always intended to make it into a short sleeved blouse. I finally did it! Part of the procrastination had to do with not wanting it to be a maternity or nursing blouse, but a lot of it had to do with not being able to decide on a pattern. I played with my Boutique software several times, but never hit on the right design.
Finally, I decided that the “vintage blouse” (#1) from Ottobre 5/2007 was close enough. I traced off a size 38, shortening it 2″. This pattern has long sleeves, so I substituted the short sleeve pattern from the linen blouse I made from 5/2008. The sleeve caps weren’t a perfect match, but since both had some gathering/easing I was able to make it fit. The main change I made, however, was to replace each of the four waist darts with a trio of pin tucks (matching the center tuck to the center of that dart). I like this placement on the back of the blouse; I wonder if I should have moved the front pleats a bit closer to the center front. I do wish I had tried my blouse on before making buttonholes. The top button seems a bit high on me, but it must be buttoned unless I am wearing a camisole.
Hopefully you can see enough of my blouse to get the general idea! Baby Boy woke up unhappy, and I figured it was better to pick him up than have him wiping his eyes on my skirt. I’m especially happy with the fabric; I needed to iron my blouse after machine washing and line drying, but it doesn’t wrinkle at all while being worn.
looks terrific!