Alright so who is up for a very bright and colourful take on Autumn dressing?

Or a bit of “f@#k you Barbie, this is how I wear pink!” action.

Today’s blog post is really a tale of fabric love.

It just so happens that I adore this Gauguin print from Stagier in Belgium. So much so that I’ve sewn it up, in, ummm, three different colours!

Here it is as a self-drafted dress, a Phen Shirt and a Taika Blouse Dress:

• 

• 

• 

And, at one point after I shared so many versions of this print, Stragier got in touch with me and offered to send me one of the new colours from their latest collection “UNE MINERALE” in exchange for sharing my finished garment. Well, how could I say no to more of a good thing?

Honestly, when it comes to this particular print, I find that the most challenging part is to decide which colour and whether to buy it in its cotton or its viscose variant!

So, full disclosure, I received this fabric, which is the soft viscose crepe in the colour way “Gauguine Cornaline”, for free.

I had originally intended to make another Phen Shirt, before deciding that it would perhaps be too similar to the previous one.

So, in a desire to be adventurous, I decided to try out a pattern I’d started seeing cropping up in the online sewing world – the Nepheline Blouse by Vivian Shao Chen. I’d loved her Bisque Trousers, so why not try out something for the top half of the body.?

The Nepheline Blouse

The Nepheline Blouse is available in B and D-cup size ranges. The D-cup range caters for a maximum bust size of 60″ (152cm) and max hip size of 62″ (157cm), so there is a good size range available.

I used the B-cup version of the pattern and I sewed up a size 4. My body measurements actually recommended size 5 at the bust and hip and a size 7 at the waist. But, looking at the A-line shape and very oversized nature of the patten, I decided to size down to a 4.

So be aware that, based on my waist measurements, this version is a full three sizes smaller than what the pattern recommended for me. And it is still plenty roomy!!!

So the Nepheline Blouse really is OVERSIZED!!!!! You have been warned.

I decided to sew version B, with the ruffle collar.

I don’t know why – you think I would have learned my lesson about my ambivalence towards neck ruffles from the Wilder Gown Top, but evidently not.

Sewing the Nepheline Blouse

Whilst I still love this fabric, I’m afraid that I did not love sewing the Nepheline Blouse.

Although it’s a simple pattern, I feel that the neckline was made unnecessarily difficult by the use of very small seam allowances.

The seam allowance at the neckline is 6mm. When you’re dealing with gathered ruffles at the neckline, if you have a fabric that frays a bit with handling like viscose, it felt like there was no margin of error.

I struggled!

The ruffle neck is finished with bias binding, which again, I found really fiddle to try to gather the seam allowance from all the ruffled up gathers into the binding. I think that a facing would have been a much more user-friendly way to finish the neck and I would probably draft one if I sewed this again.

In addition to the neckline being a real hard slog with the copious gathers and tiny seam allowance combination, my biggest issue is that I don’t like the way the view B neckline looks on me. The neckline feels way too big and low.

The overall neckline is so large that it is difficult to hang this blouse up on a coat hanger.

Again, if I were to sew it again, I would consider keeping the higher view A neckline and adding a ruffle to it.

In my version, I feel as though the ruffle is undecided as to whether it wants to flop inwards or outwards. In fact, I mentioned earlier my cotton vs. viscose dilemma with the Gauguin print. Perhaps the cotton would have been a better choice as having a fabric that is better able to support its own weight may have given a better end result for the neckline. In the end, however, I decided on the viscose because the pattern indicates that it’s very oversized, so if I want to wear an oversized shirt tucked, it’s easier to do with a drapey viscose than cotton.

Having sewn this Nephepine Blouse, I realise, unequivocally, that ruffles around the neck are not my thing and I will not sew them again.

That’s it! I promise!

No matter how cute I think they look on others, I will not give in to ruffle temptations.

But, speaking of cute, I do love the sleeve on the Nepheline Blouse!

In this bright lovely print, you can’t really see the tucks, but I know they’re there!

All in all, although I found the pattern I chose to not be quite the right one, the print is so fabulous that I will still definitely wear the finished garment.

In fact, the fabric is so lovely that I even like the finished garment despite my ultimate realisation that I simply don’t like this pattern!!

So I guess I ended up with a bit of a rare sewing sentiment combination – I was highly frustrated, but ultimately not actually disappointed by the end result of this sewing project!

Have you ever had one of those kind of “mixed feelings” sewing projects?

Thread questions

I have a question for the sewing hive mind that I was stumped on during this sewing project. If you are sewing with a fabric featuring a range of bright splashes of colour, like this one, without one being especially dominant, how do you decide which thread colour to use?

Are there any rules of thumb? Are we supposed to go for the lightest colour in the print? The darkest? I don’t know!

I was wanting to avoid a trip to the fabric store, so I made the poor choice of just using the colour I hand on hand which was the best match for a colour in the print, which was the yellow colour! This makes the top stitching on my blouse more of a feature than it needed to be.

Perhaps in retrospect, the pale pink tone might have been the best thread to use?

How to you determine thread for rainbow printed projects?

And if you’re going to say that you change thread as you sew a single line to match each colour, fullest respect to you, but I don’t really need to hear about it! No need to rub my inadequacy in my face like that 🙂