My first blouse for the Bow Neck Blouse sewalong (oh yeah, there’ll be more!). A little birdie told me to make this one (groan. bad joke, I know). It’s the bow neck blouse pattern from Gertie’s New Book for Better Sewing. I’ve made it before in black rayon blend with big red roses (the same fabric I used for the shirtwaist dress from the same book).
The fabric is a quilting cotton that I bought at Joanns quite a while ago. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, and normally don’t like quilting cottons for garments, but it was just too cute to pass up. I made several small changes to the pattern for this go-around. Since I had previously sewn the pattern in a lighter fabric with drape, I went up a size to account for the quilting cotton. I also changed the shoulder shape a bit to account for my strong shoulders. I lowered the neckline in front a bit, because it felt like it was going to choke me when I was trying on the blouse as I sewed, but I think it ended up a bit low.
Changing the front neckline increased the gap in the back neckline, which I’m also not in love with. But, as long as I pretend it’s supposed to look like that, I think it’s fine.
I thought I was making a brilliant decision to make the buttonholes more subtle. I still bound each buttonhole, but I decreased them in size and didn’t use flaps of fabric to allow for a taller buttonhole. Which effectively made each button veeeery hard to button. And they run down the back of the blouse. Oops. I can get the blouse on and off if I leave the middle two buttons buttoned, so that’s what I’ve been doing. Not my most brilliant design decision, admittedly.
I did take the time to pick stitch a blind hem on the bottom and sleeve. Not something I would usually do on a garment made out of quilting cotton, but I knew having visible stitch lines at the hems would bug me.
And in the spirit of the BNBSewalong, let’s look at the bow construction! The bow on this BNB is a separate length of fabric this is tied around the neckband. The neckband leaves a hole in the very front…
…that is finished on the inside by rolling the neck hem for a couple inches and hand stitching the collar pieces together over the gap. The bow is threaded through and tied in a simple bow.
As a side note, these khaki trousers (from Simplicity 3688 repro pattern) sit in my repair pile for weeks and weeks at a time. Until I simply must wear them (like with this blouse. Too perfect together, right? Yes, it’s a mixing of decades for the retro style influence. But hopefully that won’t bother anyone!). And then I pull them out, iron them, wear them once, and put them back in the mending pile. Great system, right? They need a partial lining as they show everything underneath them. I wear them with a little slip, but that only works because I lengthened the crotch too much. They’re such a simple pant that it won’t take much to shorten the crotch and add a lining (and I have the fabric sitting in the mending pile to do it). So maybe this public admission will be the kick-in-the-metaphorical-pants that I need to make myself fix them. Because I’d love to have them in more regular rotation!
Comments 14
This blouse turned out super flattering on you. I love the bird fabric. I have several projects like that in my sewing stash right now. I need to just get them done. I could do it in an afternoon, but the motivation is hard to find.
This is such a cute little blouse, will now be following these bow neck blouses, I really love the style
Really cute outfit. I am planning on doing this blouse in a wool jersey. I just ordered the fabric from mood so I have a mending pile (UFO) to work on in the meantime. Thanks for the post.
Author
Ooh. I bet yours will be lovely! Can’t wait to see it in the wool jersey!
This is my favorite type of blouse – a very classic shape in a great print! I’m surprised the fabric is quilting cotton, it looks like it drapes fairly well!
This blouse is so pretty. I can see why you couldn’t pass up this fabric. The trousers are definitely perfect with it!
Love the outfit!
…Mending piles, ah! how I hate them.
Very Sweet – and I LOVE the trousers! :)
This top is too cute! And you’re right – it goes perfectly with the khaki pants. Looking forward to seeing more of your bow neck blouses. : )
This blouse is marvelous! Love the fabric, and it pairs so well with the Simplicity trousers. A smashing ensemble!
Great blouse – I’m impressed how well the quilting cotton behaved! I love the mending pile pants story too. It’s funny how sometimes the idea of making a quick & easy fix is less desirable than starting a new garment from scratch. I had a similar situation with a skirt & it was sooo hard to force myself to fix it.
Thank you, thank you! I have just started this pattern and was totally perplexed about how the bow was supposed to work. Your photos were just what I needed. I am going to make a wider, floppier bow. Hope it works. Maybe I’ll make a contrast bow, too and change them out.
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So glad the post is helpful! Would love to see the floppy bow when you’re done!