Flower Power

I was inspired by Gaby's pink sleeveless blouse and decided to make a similar one for myself. More so, that I have so many pieces of fabric in my fabric drawer, that I have to sew some day.

This particular georgette was purchased last year for Gaby, but she thought it didn't suit her completion, so I left it for myself. While she is "winter", I am definitely "warm autumn" and all of these warm colors are right up my alley. 

The pattern is again Burda 6840, reduced to size 34 and shortened by 7 cm, that is additional 2 cm, compared to Gaby's pink blouse. I like the shortening, but next time I might move the shortening lines above and below the waist and leave the height above the armscye. 

 

Pattern: Burda 6840

Size: 34, modified, shortened by 7 cm

Fabric: polyester georgette

Time to make: five days

The pattern has its own long sleeves, but I wanted flared sleeves, so I changed them based on my Purple Burda Blouse 108 12/2023. Initially I planned to add an elastic at the end of the sleeves, but it somehow cheapened the look of the blouse for me. Then I thought of adding the elastic in a tunnel some 4-5 cm above the hem - I love such sleeves. I might still do it, but as I already have a blouse with such sleeves, in the end I though it might be cool just to leave the sleeves wide and bell-shaped and see how I felt about them - I can always add the elastic later.

Among the minor modifications I added to the pattern is again the collar, which I made angular and not rounded, as in the pattern - somehow I find the angular look better.

The flared sleeves in combination with my flared jeans give a very flower power vibe, which I adore :)

Pink Sleeveless Shirt for Gaby

This is the last item I made for Gaby in April. The shirt was kind of an afterthought after  had finished with the jeans. I bought the fabric last summer, but let it marinate in my fabrics drawer with a lot of other fabric pieces - yes, these tend to increase faster than I manage to sew them, I'm sure it's a tendency known to all seamstresses worldwide :)

I'm not sure what type of fabric it is, but it is something like gauze - fairly loosely woven and slightly transparent, with tweed like insertions of colorful threads. The threads run horizontally, but I though the vertical striping made more sense, so I cut the fabric across the grain. 

I've made this pattern before in red viscose and I knew it fit Gaby well. The original pattern starts from size 36, but I had drawn the 34 size myself, based on the proportions of the given sizes. Cutting the shirt this time was super easy, as I already had the pattern pieces prepared.

I played a little with the stripes, as one does, cutting the yoke so, that the stripes run horizontally. All of the seams are french seams and the yoke seams are enclosed, using the burrito method.

As the main fabric is very loose weaved and frays easily, I chose to use some complementary viscose for the inside of the armhole openings.

Pattern: Burda 6840

Size: 34, modified, shortened by 5 cm

Fabric: cotton\polyester gauze

Time to make: two days

I was very happy to find the perfect colour buttons, although they could have been a tad smaller

The blouse in the photos is still unhemmed, I hemmed it after Gaby tried it on. She liked the length I had cut, so I just folded the curved end twice by 1 cm and sewed it.

Burda 6840 Blouse

 Right before I bought the Rhapsody blouse, I attempted to recreate the style with another pattern I have in my collection - Burda 6840. It is a shirt pattern, but I easily turned it into a blouse by omitting the cut of the front and the buttons, widening a little bit the neckline and adding a split at the front. I made the split in the manner of the sleeve splits for cuffs. My fabric is cotton lawn, which was snow white and I dyed it this brick orange color with cotton dyes (a mix of red, yellow and black).
I cut the smallest size - 36 and made my usual modifications for petite height, and as the blouse was also rather wide and my fabric was not drapy, I reduced the width by a total of 8 cm, thus bringing the pattern from 36 (s) to 32 (xxs). I think it fits Gaby's slender figure just right.

 The ties can be worn loose or tied to close the neckline.

 Gaby does not like oversized and long blouses, so this one hits her just above the hips.

I made my seams french seams with the exception of the armscye seams and I burritoed the back yoke.

Based on these modifications, I made a size xs (34) paper pattern for myself, but I'm not sure if I'll make it. It is very similar in style to the Rhapsody blouse and I prefer its cut as more flattering.
Nevertheless I quite like my modified Burda 6840 and I hope it will get some wear.