WIP – Jasmine blouse

Fabric: bed sheet from The Ridge House, $0

Pattern: Jasmine by Colette, $16

Notions: thread, fusible interfacing; both from stash

Time to complete: Who knows? Didn’t keep track, and yes, I actually used French seams on a muslin. Because I’m that nutty.

First worn: A few days ago, around the house

Wear again: Um, yeah… maybe at The Ridge House, picking berries, baking a pie, hanging out laundry to dry on a sun-kissed July day in northern Maine, kiddos and Mushie running back from the swimming hole. (conjure up scenes from The Tree of Life) In real life, in public… prolly not. Though it’s not too bad tucked into a skirt.

Total price: $16, though if considered here, then does that mean I no longer have to consider the pattern price a cost?

I’m kind of cheating here, posting the Jasmine blouse in two parts just to fluff out the numbers. Gotta make sure I get in those three posts per week, y’all. This is my muslin, version 2 in a straight up size 6.  This is the third Colette pattern I’ve sewn, and let me preface by saying that they are a dream to work from. Seriously, every. single. step. is clearly spelled out. Yeah, this is a beginner pattern, but even the Rooibos was the same. I’m used to filling in lots of blanks. Stuff you’re just “supposed to know”, and had Colette been around 15 years ago, learning to sew would have been a breeze. However, still working out the fit with this line. In fact, fit is a huge goal that I aim to work on this year, and yet managed to leave it off my last post. I definitely think Sarai & co. are generous with the sizing. They give finished dimensions, so you can see how much ease is built in. But for me, this is three for three in having to size down. No way am I a 4 in anything, but that’s what I’ll be starting from with this pattern company from here on out. So let’s leave those numbers out of it… size is so arbitrary. If you have my dimensions (34 high bust, 36 bust, 28 waist [a high one at that]), you might want to consider a size 4, and if not you might want to size down anyway. Another note to self – if I make this version again with the notched cuff, I’ll make the band a bit narrower. The proportions as-is aren’t quite to my liking but very cute on many of the versions I’ve seen out there.

Mushie was very concerned. About the prospect of me wearing this out of the house? The fact that my camera was teetering on a gorilla pod on top of books on top of the ironing board? About not getting into the picture?