Gemma’s Sudley Blouse!
Hi everyone,
My name’s Gemma and I’m also known as @TheDalyThread on Instagram.
I was so flattered to be asked by Caroline and Fliss to join their blogger team, and I immediately knew what I was going to make.
After having just purchased the Megan Nielsen Sudley dress/blouse pattern, I picked the “Dusty Mint Cotton Dobby” from the Felicity Fabrics website as I thought it would be a match made in heaven!
The Sudley is such a versatile pattern – it can be a blouse of cropped or longer length, or a dress with an empire waist and gathered skirt. It also has several sleeve options, a peter pan collar and a keyhole detail with ties. You can wear the key hole at either the front or the back – it is completely reversible!
I chose to make the longer length blouse with short sleeves, a peter pan collar and the keyhole detail with ties. I made a size small and I went with the finished garment measurements, as it is a relaxed fit, but I didn’t want it to be too large.
I made a toile first of all out of some similar fabric that had been sitting in my stash for a while. I wanted to just check that the sleeves were a good fit as some garments can be a little tight on me around there, and I wanted to have a practice at the binding technique that it uses around the neckline and the keyhole. It turns out I didn’t have to make any adjustments to the sizing at all.
The binding is probably the most fiddly bit of the whole garment, but it is honestly pretty straight forward. I have never used a bias facing before, so I found it an interesting skill to try.
The instructions on the pattern are easy to follow and there’s not too many pieces to cut out (which is always a bonus).
A couple of little tips I found if you’re planning to sew this pattern – I reduced the seam allowance when I was doing the basting stitches for the collar and the bias facing as I found on my toile that they were showing through after I’d sewn it properly and I was having to unpick them. The second tip is, don’t worry about finishing the raw edges of the ties as they get hidden within the facing anyway! It just saves time!
So on to the fabric….the cotton dobby was a dream to work with, and the colour is absolutely gorgeous. As it’s a cotton, it’s very stable and so easy to cut out, and it glides through your machine with no issues. I think this is a garment that will go with so many things.
I could’ve chosen several of the fabrics from the website for this project including the embroidery anglaise, the dotty chambray or any of the cotton lawns and I’m sure they would have all looked amazing. You could also choose a viscose, linen or a crepe for a completely different look.
As this fabric is quite a fine cotton, I did find that my pins were leaving holes in it, so I decided to use clips when I was sewing all of the seams. If you have some super fine pins, I’m sure they would be absolutely great too.
One last thing that I want to tell you about is that as this pattern has separate pieces for the main collar and the under collar, it means you can choose a contrasting fabric for a little extra interest. I picked a little floral scrap that I’d been keeping, as it’s so pretty, and I think it goes perfectly. I’m so pleased with it!
I just want to say thanks again to Caroline and Fliss and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my first blog post! Make sure you check out all of the wonderful fabrics on the Felicity Fabrics website, not to mention their great selection of haberdashery and patterns.
Until next time,
Gemma xx
