Lavender Blue

After being quite pleased with my initial attempt at making a Picnic Blouse, I decided that I wanted to make another, this time with a different sleeve treatment.

I had remnants of this upholstery fabric leftover from a dress that I made back in 2016 out of my Grandmother's old drapes and bedspread, and it didn't really require a full lining, so I decided to use the interfacing pattern pieces as a facing.

That would take care of the neckline and opening edges, but not the bottom hemline, so I drafted that facing piece.

Seamlines were finished with seam binding, as usual.

And I decided that a covered button would look rather nice with this fabric.

And, as with the previous version, I used bound buttonholes.

Because, why not!

At this point, I find the process rather relaxing, especially when working with a stable fabric like this cotton.

I highly recommend trying the technique.  It's not complicated; it just takes a little bit more time compared to using a machine to make your buttonhole.  And I get a much more consistent result with my bound buttonholes than a contemporary buttonhole attachment!

But any extra effort is absolutely worth it, in my opinion.

I have made a few handworked buttonholes, and I would like to do more of those at some point, but I thought that the bound version would look better for this particular project.

I do interface the section of fabric where the buttonholes will be worked for extra stability.

And I always work with a larger square of fabric than is necessary.  I find it much easier to play with; you can always trim away, but having a tiny bit of fabric start to fray where you are cutting a hole into your garment is not fun.

I bound the outside edges of the facing instead of folding over and stitching because it creates less bulk (and I think it looks pretty).

I know that some people avoid facings, but I really like the finish that they give.  

In some cases, a length of bias binding works great, but I think I will always prefer a facing.

And I even remembered to grade my seams.

The lower facing was hand stitched into place along the seamlines and dart legs.

Because I had enough fabric to work with, I was able to get a nice pattern match at center front, which I alway prefer.

For the sleeves, I decided to see if the puffed sleeve from the Scout Dress from Charm Patterns would swap in for the pattern's cap sleeves.

I figured that there was a good chance that the block for both bodices would be similar since they are from the same company.  And also, I would be dealing with a puffed sleeve, which is rather forgiving.

I ended up shortening the sleeve for the look I was going for, but overall, the pairing worked out great.

This top is a very quick project, even with the substituted sleeve, and I am very pleased with how it turned out.

I probably don't need a third version for the time being, but I wouldn't be opposed to making another should the right fabric show up and/or one of my skirts needs another top to pair with it!