Today, I’ve got the Nexus Blouse by Papercut Patterns to share with you.

I’ve been a little wary of sewing with a Papercut Patterns product since my Pinnacle Top and the well-known problems with their Sapporo Coat. Between those quality issues and their lack of an inclusive size range, I have decided not to purchase any more of their patterns.

I already owned the Nexus Blouse, however, having loved the look of it when it was released last year, so I figured it was alright to sew up a pattern that I already owned. So, after a quick check of the Papercut Patterns errata page revealed that there were no known errors with the Nexus Blouse, I decided to give it a go.

By the way, in my view, Papercut Patterns just still doesn’t get it when it comes to the calls from the sewing community for improved transparency. Having remembered that Papercut’s page of corrections on their website has the rather distinct title of “Errata”, I went searching for this page on the Papercut Patterns website. Well, using their own search function, searching the words “errata” or “erratum” do not bring you to the page with the title/heading “Errata”. Searching the word “error” delivers the fix to the Sapporo Coat page, but not to any of their other pattern corrections. As far as I can tell, you can only find these pattern corrections by clicking on the tiny little “Help” option in the footer section of their website! This is not very intuitive for me – I couldn’t find it myself and had to locate a link I already had to the page to be able to check for whether any errors have been found in the Nexus blouse.

I remember when I posted about my issues with the Pinnacle top on instagram, Papercut replied along the lines that publishing errata is an industry-standard response to these kind of errors. Even assuming this to be true, that “publication ” has to be readily accessible to be meaningful!! In full knowledge of the title of the page and the fact that it exists, I still couldn’t find it on their website.

Ughhhh!

Anyway, I digress. Let’s try to stick with the positive-sewing vibes, because…

Well, I actually mostly like this pattern!

My Nexus Blouse

My Nexus Blouse is a size 6.

The pattern has a dropped shoulder and comes with two sleeve options – an uncuffed wide three-quarter length sleeve and this full-length “puffed and cuffed” version.

It comes with either a cropped straight hem or this longer curved shirt-style hem.

I’ve sewn it here out of a quite weighty viscose with a bit of stretch which has been in my stash for ages. I bought it from Meter Meter.

The Nexus Blouse has no darts at the bust, which is why it is indicated that it can be worn both with the buttons on the front (forwards, in my mind) or with the buttons at the back (backwards). I’ll let you know what I think of this aspect later, with the aid of some photos.

I thought that the lack of bust shaping would also potentially be useful in view of this fabric. I love myself a good windowpane check, but they can look a bit awkward when you have forms of shaping – bust darts, princess seams etc- creating odd and obvious shapes.

The flat and straightforward construction of the Nexus Blouse, therefore, seemed like a great chance to use this fabric.

And, all in all, I think it’s a good fabric match. I would definitely recommend, in view of the lack of shaping at the bust, using a fabric with enough drape and fluidity – viscose, tencel, silk etc.

I also note that I have a small bust, so not sure if the lack of bust shaping will work on all body types.

Sewing the Nexus Blouse

Sewing the Nexus Blouse was a pretty straightforward experience. Although the version I sewed looks almost “shirt-like”, the lack of a collar makes it quite a fast sew.

The neckline is finished with a facing and you sew your buttons and button holes through the facing, so there is no centre placket deal with.

I didn’t identify any errors or problems with the patterns. The only thing that I noticed was that the recommended methods for finishing seemed to be aimed at efficiency over quality and I found myself making little modifications by way of personal preference, in order to have a garment with a better quality finish.

For example, the curved hem is just overlocked and folded once. If you want a nicer finish than that, you could use a bias bound finish, as is done on the curved hem line of the Closet Core Patterns Kalle Shirt.

I thought that the instructions could also have given a few more details and instructions as to how to get a smooth finish at the side seam, where the curved hem starts.

Speaking of the hem, the instructions also have you finish it at a very early stage of the process, way before the shirt comes together as a whole. I’m not the world’s most accurate sewist (by which I mean, I am highly inaccurate). Further, my absolute priority at the centre front was getting my window panes to line up at the horizontal lines. Taking these factors into account, I ended up with one side of my shirt about 1.5cm longer than the other (all own error here) and had to unpick the finished hem to rectify this.

This also means one side is slightly longer than the other on my finished Nexus Blouse. Damn you window pane check for showing my errors so clearly!! This isn’t a practical issue for me but it would have been a piece of cake to correct if it hadn’t been hemmed already!! It’s still pretty easy to fix but just can’t bring myself to unpick. After all, while I photographed it in full for the purpose for sharing with you guys and showing the shape of the hem, I would see myself wearing this almost always fully tucked or half tucked.

In other words, no-one else but you guys will be feasting your eyes on my checked wonkiness.

I understand why the pattern called for finishing the shirt hem when it did but, if, like me, you know you might have some pattern matching issues across the centre front, you could equally save hemming the shirt until the end.

Another example of less than the highest quality finishing is that, although it looks like a proper shirt-style sleeve cuff from a distance, there is no proper button placket at the sleeve cuff, it is simply the seam allowance folded in.

I also added a few little details where I felt the pretty lines warranted it – such as top stitching the cuff down.

All in all, these are pretty minor things and issues that a relatively easier to change if you prefer to prioritise prettier guts.

In the end, I actually quite like the Nexus Blouse. I especially like the shape and look of the curved hem and the way that, sewn with these options, it really feels like an “almost shirt”, rather than a simple “top”. For me, this gives it great wardrobe versatility. I do like garments that I can wear both to work and with jeans.

The Nexus Blouse fits the bill, plus these roomy oversized sleeves are really comfortable, with arm comfort often being an area where I can experience issues.

So, against my better judgment in a way, I actually like this pattern. While I’m waiting a while to see how I like wearing it, I can see myself using it again in the future.

Having said that, it’s not as though this pattern provides something that can’t be found elsewhere. For example, I think it would be pretty easy to hack the popular Fibre Mood Norma to achieve a similar effect, which is probably what I would have tried to do if I didn’t already own the Nexus Blouse.

I’m spinnin’ around…

So, do you guys want to see how it looks backwards, as the garment is apparently designed to also be worn?

First things first, I gotta say that when I wear it backwards, well, it feels as though I am wearing it backwards. It feels differently on my shoulders and is all-around a bit awkward.

But, I may be willing to endure a lack of comfort if I feel that I look good (for a limited period at least and if I’m actually leaving the house), so the real determining factor for me is looks.

From the front, I actually really like the Nexus Blouse worn backwards.

This is a look I can embrace.

But, from the back, well, it just doesn’t work on my body. I guess I can’t substitute shoulder blades for a bust after all.

Who would have thought…

So, for my mind, the wearing it backwards thing is a bit of a bust, but was worth the experiment!

Oh and, finally, a little P.S! If you like to get your blog hits through Bloglovin’, feel free to follow me over there: you can find me here. And you can find me on Instagram here.