Amanda vs. The Jasmine Blouse

Picture this: Caboolture, 1999. A grunge-y young uni student decides to sew herself a purple and grey bowling shirt to match her new Doc Martens. Utilising mostly self-taught skills and an increasingly frustrated mother to decode instructions, she cuts and pins and stitches until the top is complete. Finished, the shirt is carefully pressed and is ready to try on. And that thing is as big as a house. A veritable muumuu. Our poor young student discovers she can not only fit herself into the top but also two of her pet geese (yes, I'm a small farm girl) and run around the yard pretending to be a hydra (no pet geese were harmed in the attempt to resemble a bowling shirt adorned mythical beast). And it was there, surrounded by well dressed honking geese in the backyard, that she ended her attempts at shirts. Shirts and our uni students weren't meant to be.

So the days of no sewn shirts turned into months which turned into years. And that leads us to this this crazy smiling lady with A SELF SEWN SHIRT WITH COLLAR AND SLEEVES!!!!

Booyah! And to top things off this photo was taken after a day at work running round like a pork chop after school children. Heck, here is me doing a running man to demonstrate the shirt in action...

Or upon reflection this appears to be more of a bad robot dance, but whatevs. The point is I totes made this top. And that is pretty special, if I do say so myself.

What I loved about this pattern:

• The bias cut. This is still a technique I am not used to and I love the result it gives. It feels like this blouse is super kind to my curves.
• The gorgeous little collar- it makes me feel like a sailor. Aye aye!
• How easy it was to follow the instructions. I'm not going to lie, my fear of sewing blouses is so great that I was too scared to open the pattern and read ahead until after I had cut the pieces out. Once again Colette talks the scared beginner through with lots of lovely diagrams.
• How neat the inside looks- I love my serger!

What I would change about this for next time:

• Fabric. I currently have a second version on the burner that is made from a lovely voile that will drape a lot softer. In saying that, this spotty poplin came up to a grand total of $12.50 and was a fantastic fabric to practise on. And even better- the blouse turned out a treat so I can wear this muslin as it is. Win! Though it does crinkle easily...

Crinkled or no, I just love this fabric. I mean look at how adorable the tiny Skittle coloured spots make the sailor collar look...

And as a lady who loves a challenge I am almost finished my second Jasmine blouse in a cute as a button voile that I can't wait to show you. I seriously feel like that I am starting to get the hang of this sewing things after this top and my polka dot tea dress. So, to that horrid oversized goose carrying bowling shirt that scared me silly of sewing blouses over a decade ago, I say to you NYAH!