My entry for the Pattern Review Fitted Blouse Contest

I was planning to make this blouse weeks ago but when I discovered there was a contest, my competitive edge got the better of me...

My mum had given me a bagful of mystery fabrics a while ago and in there was a really rich maroon coloured one which was always destined to be a top. I think it's cotton sateen because it has a slight sheen to it. It was a b*****d to wash though - I knew it would run as it's so dark so I hand washed it. It left pink streaks all around the edges of the bath!

The instructions were fairly straightforward for the most part except for the collar. Really badly written in my opinion. I initially thought it would be done a certain way by using the two cut pieces for the collar and sewing them right sides together then turning them right sides out but the instructions didn't seem to say that at all. They kept referring to the collar piece and the collar facing (which I thought meant neck facing for some reason, probably because they only mentioned the collar facing for this one step and didn't mention it in the layout etc). Anyway, eventually I did it my way and realised that my intuition had been right all along and I'd just got myself confused! I still didn't get part of it right as I wasn't left with a slit/hole to put the knot of the bow through but it didn't make a huge difference as it was easy enough to attach by hand using a few tacking stitches. It adds a really cute touch, no?

I had to increase the width of the back darts loads because it was too big, even though I cut the pattern according to the finished garment measurements. The original sleeves were huge too so I set them in with a massive seam allowance.

Back view - should have checked that the
collar was properly uncurled, oops!

Anyway, I'm happy with the blouse overall as it is perfect for work tucked into a skirt. I've entered it into the contest, voting opens on 2 April so if you think my entry is good, please vote for me!! I will put up a reminder nearer the time...