Finished: Poppy Pendrell

Here's the last of the projects I finished in October.  After seeing a million Pendrell blouses around the sewing blogosphere for the past two years, I finally got around to making one of my own.  I bought the pattern back when it first came out, but it's been sitting uncut in my stash this whole.

The listed length on this blouse seemed crazy, so the first thing I did was shorten all the body pieces by four inches each.

I took the four inches out by measuring a two-inch section below the waist notches, folding that section back on itself, and securing it with pins. (Did that make sense?  If anyone wants more details, let me know.)  Shortening the waist seemed like a better idea than chopping length off the bottom, because doing the latter would have meant also losing inches from the hem circumference, and that's not what I was trying to do.

Pendrell offers a sleeveless option, but for me, the sleeves are the real stars of this pattern.  I made View A, the pleated-but-not-ruffled version.

I grumbled a lot while marking and pinning all those pleats, but the results were worth the effort.

 

The sleeves give the blouse a great overall shape.  They're sort of drapey, but sort of sculptural at the same time.  Pleats are such a fun way to manipulate fabric.

 

Even with the four inches removed, this blouse is still plenty long enough for me to tuck into a skirt or pants if I want to. (My face looks rather...concerned in this photo.  But this was the shot that showed the outfit the best.  I assure you I feel quite happy about this ensemble!)

[Fabric: Abstract poppy print by Karen Tusinki.]

Comments

[didyoumakethat]

Oh my goodness, what an inspired choice of fabric, So, so pretty. I'm in love with your blouse!

[heather]

Impressive. I'm afraid of sewing machines.

[Dusty]

Love the blouse and the print...