Bow Tie Blouse from Patrones

As the sunny weather persisted today, we took the opportunity to photoshoot my latest sewing make - a bow tie blouse.

A couple of weeks ago I visited Burda shop downtown and bought Burda 12 / 2025 and Nähtrends 03/2025, which is a German translation of the Spanish Patrones. One pattern attracted my attention in both magazines - a bow tie viscose blouse. In Burda the pattern was quite wide with gathered raglan sleeves, but the design in Patrones was sleek and fairly easy. I had never sewn with Patrones and was eager to try it, so the choice easy. An additional bonus was, that the pattern in Burda had a pictorial tutorial, which was actually an useful help for the attaching of the bow tie.

I'll start immediately with the bad news - the Patrones design is done inaccurately and  incompetently. I've read plenty of bad reviews, that Patrones takes ready made clothes and provides reverse engineered designs for them, without testing. I have no idea whether these claims are true, but I can safely say - I wouldn't cut into expensive fabric to make a Patrones pattern, without testing it first on some cheap muslin.

My main complaints - the front and the back are very unbalanced and the opening for the neck is too narrow. The problem is, that the ease of the blouse is provided by the width of the front, while the back is quite straight and narrow. This makes the front much wider than the back and additionally limits the movement of the arms at the back in the shoulder area. This issue could be tackled by adding a yoke, but that would mean more or less redesigning the blouse anew, which to be honest, I would do, if I wanted to make it again. 

The second problem, the narrow opening for the head, was not that difficult to address -  I deepened the neckline at the back and shortened the width of the back shoulders. Still, I've never had such design problems with other professional sewing patterns.

Pattern: Nähtrends 03/2025 Blouse 23

Size: 36, modified

Fabric: georgette

Time to make: 9 days 

My other modifications of the pattern: I shortened the sleeves by 3 cm to fit the length of my arms, I designed the bow tie myself and mine is cut along the grain as one long tie, without a seam at the back, I also changed a little the form of the side and hem lines, adding just a little bit of tailoring at the waist and some rounding of the hem.

Although the blouse was intended as a test item, utilizing the remaining fabric from my summer dress, I still decided to give it my best, so I made all of my seams French seams, including the pleated shoulder seams.

The bow is the main feature that attracted me to the pattern and I like its versatility - I can wear it tied, but the length is calculated to be perfect for wearing the ties loose as well. 

Another feature I like - the sleeves. Surprisingly, given that they are the simplest possible rectangles with a sleeve head, but in this case, with the pleats I added, they work pretty nicely.

 

All in all - I am satisfied with the final result, mostly because I love the fabric. However, the pattern needs a lot of additional work to make it worth your fabric, so I would not recommend it.

Pink Flower Dress

This is my third and most probably last of the chiffon dresses, that I became so obsessed with this summer. I started it at the beginning of August, with the intention to finish it in a couple of days and wear it during the hot August days. 

Actually, the initial plan was to make another Burda pattern, one of my Make Nine plans. I printed the pattern and started with the lining. It turned to be a good idea, as it was soon evident, that the pattern did not fit me well and needed serious corrections and calculations - the upper part of the dress was too short. I abandoned the pattern and cut the upper part of Burda #104 from the remaining fabric.

After I assembled the lining,  I cut into the main fabric - cotton georgette with an interesting flower print. For this make of the pattern I decided to make a few changes, leading to a bit bigger ease at the waist - a mistake, in hindsight.

Once I had assembled the upper dress, I realized, that the lining should be a mirror image of the dress, and mine was the same as the dress. That meant, that I had to undo all the overlocking and stitching of the flimsy chiffon lining and I had neither the time, nor the patience with all the goings in the second half of August, before our sea vacation abroad. So I just abandoned the project for better days.

Pattern: Burda #104 02/2011 dress and Deniz skirt by Vikisews

Size: 17 Height: 154 - 160 cm

Fabric: pink chiffon, pink flower georgette

Time to make: one month

Once back from our Greek vacation, I decided, that it would be a shame to leave all the cut fabric lying around, so I gathered all of my inner strength, undid almost all the seams of the lining and some of the upper dress and finished the job. 

I am still not sure how to even these dresses with semicircle skirts - I let the dress hang on the tailor's dummy, measured and cut the hem and it is still uneven - but it is what it is. I'm glad it is finished and I even wore it a couple of times. Now I can move to new, probably more colder weather oriented projects. The summer seems to be over and autumn is already here.

Sleeveless Butterfly Dress

Last year right at the end of summer I made myself a sleeveless Burda dress out of two chiffon fabrics. The dress was a mash-up out of two patterns - Burda 104 02/2011 with corrections and Deniz skirt by Vikisews.

The summer was then over and I never had the chance to wear the dress. However, we are in the midst of the hot summer days again and I found the little chiffon dress simply priceless, so I made myself another one.

Pattern: Burda #104 02/2011 dress and Deniz skirt by Vikisews

Size: 17 Height: 154 - 160 cm

Fabric: navy chiffon, navy georgette

Time to make: 3 days

The outer fabric is a beautiful georgette and the dress is fully lined with navy chiffon. Interesting, how I loved to wear simple knit-fabric dresses in the summer, but lately I prefer lined viscoses and georgettes.

Based on my notes from the previous dress, I raised the waist 1 cm and cut the semicircle in two parts, so that the straight line would be at the front and at the back, otherwise the pattern is the same. I'm so in love with this little dress, that I plan a few more similar dresses for the summer, both for myself and for Gaby.

Gloria Dress for Gaby

My second Gloria dress with Denis skirt, both patterns by the leading Russian pattern company Vikisews. Gaby was very enthusiastic for a feminine georgette dress for herself after I made mine a couple of months ago. I saw the fabric some time ago, sent her a picture, she liked it and it was decided - this was going to be my personal present for her birthday.

The fabric is sort of georgette, but thinner and more see-through than the fabric I used for my dress, so I had to make a lining for the skirt. I cut the lining out of sheer black chiffon and I think it worked perfectly for the fine main fabric of the dress. 

I made the dress with a few small modifications, based on previous experience: I raised the heart neckline by 2.5 cm to make it more covering, as the original is a bit low; I also narrowed the neckline by 2.5 cm both at the front and the back, as I found the original cut a bit loose. I also made most of the seams French seams because of the fine and transparent nature of my main fabric. I small note - Gaby is a bit more broad shouldered than me and I should add just a bit more volume at the sides - probably somewhere in the range of 1.5 - 2 cm total for more comfort, as the dress is a bit tight-fitting as it is. I also added 1 cm to the length of the body, as Gaby is taller than me and it was a needed correction - it fits her body well.

 

Pattern: Gloria dress and Deniz skirt by Vikisews

Size: 36

Height: 154 - 160 cm

Fabric: polyester georgette, black chiffon

Time to make: 3 days

I had very limited time to make the dress before we packed our bags for Greece and I am so, so happy that I managed, with all the challenges the thinner fabric posed. Actually, when I cut both fabrics, I was sure I had bitten more than I could chew - I don't think I had ever sewn such thin fabrics, but the result turned stunning and I am so happy I was able to present this dress to her on her birthday, which we celebrated at the sea-shore :)

Gloria dress and Denis skirt are presently my favourite patterns and I plan at least several more dresses, based on them. It could be a phase I'm going through, but I've been favouring my silk dresses this summer and I need more - I just love it, when I am wearing sophisticated feminine dresses. I've been putting on my Roliz and Gloria dresses by Vikisews on every occasion I could find and I believe Gaby was also impressed by her dress, as she wore it twice during the four days of our sea vacation :)

And might I just add, that she looked absolutely stunning in it :)

And as of today a newly-minted Master of Science from Vienna University!

Viki Sews Gloria Dress

Three years after my Roliz dress by Vikisews, I've made another dress. The inspiration for it comes from a Russian seamstress, who blew my mind with her interpretation of Vikisew's dress and prompted me immediately to log on to the site and buy the two related patterns.

Yes, two patterns, as the upper part of the dress is the Gloria and the skirt is a simple semi-circle skirt, which I lazily chose to buy, instead of drawing it myself.

I've always known that short wide skirts are my thing and when I saw Bogdanchik's version of Gloria, I knew I had found my dream dress pattern :)

Apart from the different skirt, this version of the dress also features a different sleeve - the long shirred lower part of the sleeve is gone and the upper part is gathered with an elastic, inserted in a tunnel.

Although I ordered and made my size 36 and my height, I've noticed a few minor things that I will need to modify in my next dresses, based on this pattern.

The square neck opening of the dress is a bit low for my taste and so I added a little piece of ruffle. Next time I plan simply to raise the neckline by 2.5 cm.

Another issue is the width of the dress in the upper part and at the shoulders. I know I am actually 34 around the bust and the shoulders, so I plan to narrow the cleavage and to add two small darts at the back neck, reducing the front and the back necklines by 2 cm respectively.

 

Pattern: Gloria dress and Deniz skirt by Vikisews

Size: 36

Height: 154 - 160 cm

Fabric: polyester georgette

Time to make: 2 weeks

 

Sleeveless Rhapsody

I know, Rhapsody again, boring...

I didn't really expect to be making another Rhapsody so soon, but this summer there are several blouses I wear almost all the time and two of them are my favourite Rhapsodies - a sleeveless one out of viscose knit and my latest puff-sleeve georgette Rhapsody. 

It just turns out, that this is the style of blouse I find most flattering and easy to wear, this year - maybe I'll change my mind next year; and I can't get enough of these. I'm planning yet another one, but with some heavy modifications - I want to add a collar and buttons and turn it into a shirt with an yoke, but we'll see about that.

Pattern: Rhapsody by Love Notions 

Size: XS, modified

Fabric: Cotton Georgette, 1 m

Time to make: one week

I have almost nothing to write about this Rhapsody, as I made it very much following my usual modifications - shortened body and yoke. The only super minor novelty - I replaced the pleat at the back with some gathering. The yoke is double, as per pattern, all seams are french seams and the neckline and arm openings are finished with self-made bias band.

Crepe Georgette Rhapsody

I'm on a roll with the Rhapsody pattern - I made another one, this time for Gaby. It is practically the same as mine, only 2 cm shorter as per her request. I had only 115 cm of this gorgeous crepe georgette satin and I'm pretty pleased with myself for being able to make the blouse with 3/4 bishop sleeves and 1.5 meters of bias tape. And I even made a headband to go with the blouse.

This is definitely one of the more difficult fabrics I've ever worked with - it is very similar to silk, moving and fraying all the time. Of course, I made all of my seams french seams, including the sleeve arscyes seams; the double yoke is attached the burrito method.

I've noticed that Love Notions designs run a bit big - I'm usually an S, but according to their measures I'm a XS, respectively Gaby, who is a true XS, finds their XS a bit roomy for her. I'm in the process of making another Rhapsody for her, a short sleeved one out of woven viscose, and I've raised the neckline by 1.5 cm to compensate for her more narrow shoulders, meanwhile keeping the volume of the xs size, as she likes it.