Saturday, May 25, 2013

Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing, The Peter Pan Blouse

I bought myself a copy of Gertie's book.
Just got a few seconds to rub together to try it out.
I decided to make the Peter Pan collar blouse.


I unfolded the pattern and traced out the pieces I needed onto craft paper. I used cans of food to weigh down the paper and keep it in place while I traced. There are only three pattern pieces for this blouse. Gertie teaches how she drafts collars instead of just giving you the pattern piece. Brilliant! I spent the whole day playing with shapes and sizes until I had things looking the way I wanted them.


I decided to make two collars in contrasting fabrics. I like the look. I've seen friends post pics of blouses they've found with this collar. (I'm still blaming you Elizabeth Lee!) It feels feminine and frilly.


Here's the front of the blouse..... I really do like the collar. 


Here is the back of the collar.... you can see I need to work on my pattern drafting a bit. The back of the collar pieces overlap, but I don't really mind. I'll know for next time to keep that overlap measurement in mind. I love the little green buttons that I found in the button stash.


Here's the whole blouse on a hanger.....
Doesn't do it justice just hanging there empty like that.
All those roses will take a bit of getting used to.
Feels a bit Daisy the Clown to me right now.
Maybe with a jumper and cardy to break them up I'll like them more.

Just wanted to say thanks to the lovely Gertie. Love this book and can't wait to try out all of the many vintage and retro looks you've recreated in this fabulous and instructional book.