I’ve had all sorts of time to sew because Adam has been gone for a couple of weeks for work. So, this means I get to share a whole series of finished sewing projects!  It starts with this Guatemalan cowgirl blouse.

The Guatemalan fabric was part of a recent gift of fabulous fabric from a friend. I immediately thought that it would be lovely as the yoke and pockets of the blouse, so I followed through on my inspiration. There’s still quite a bit left, so more Guatemalan fabric projects await!

I sewed it from McCalls 3688. The first time I sewed this pattern was 10 years ago when I bought the pattern. I didn’t fit it at all and used a stiff fabric and heavy interfacing. It was beautiful on the hanger, but unfortunately never got worn. I used the pattern to sew a pink gingham cowgirl dress a couple of years ago but, of course, didn’t actually keep a record of the fitting changes I made. I didn’t have to do a lot to make it fit well this time around – I lengthened the sleeves and changed the size and shape of the darts to account for the narrowness of my natural waist when compared to the broadness of my low waist.

I’m quite happy with how my cuff plackets turned out. And I think it’s a fun detail to have the cuff lining be the Guatemalan fabric, if I do say so myself.

I made sure that I could snap the cuffs while rolled up so that they stay out of my way while working in lab.

Since the Guatemalan fabric is a fairly loose weave, I serged all the inside seams to prevent them from unraveling. I also serged the seams inside the collar to get rid of some of the bulk as the fabric is fairly thick.

I stitch-in-the-ditched on the shoulder seam. Can’t see the stitching? I know! Isn’t it great!?

Even more impressive, if I do say so myself, is the fact that the stitching is (almost) perfectly in the seam on the inside too!

And of course, an obligatory photo of my cute cats “helping” me to make the blouse.