My Creative Space - The Sewaholic Alma Blouse (sort of)

Remember that vow that I made to sew more clothes for myself?

Well, it's been a while but I finally have something new to add to the wardrobe.

Now this is a great pattern - I'd totally recommend it. Unfortunately, I started it late on a Sunday afternoon and managed to make a bit of a mess of it.

It all began when I realised that I didn't actually have enough of this pretty floral voile.

I cut the front of the blouse on the fold, and then I was supposed to cut the back on the fold also. This is the point where I realised I'd have to make some changes, so I cut the back of the blouse in two pieces and joined them and topstitched to make it look like it was meant to be...

Once I'd cut the front, back, collar, and facings, I realised that there also wasn't enough fabric for sleeves. Whoops!

Please forgive the crappy night time iPhone photos

 

I decided to add four inches to the length as that's the style that I prefer to wear. I had to skip the vertical darts on the back to make it fit comfortably. 

Once I'd made the collar in three separate sections, I realised that I hadn't read the instructions properly (it was supposed to just be in one piece). Again, not enough fabric to re-do, so I just went with the flow and attached the collar in three pieces!

 

Once I'd gotten to this unhemmed stage, I had to decide what to do about the missing sleeves. I have quite narrow shoulders, so I trimmed back the shoulder width at the top, and just bound the armholes with red binding.

 

I must say that I'm glad I didn't give up. I made changes on the fly, and I totally love how it turned out in the end.

It works perfectly with my little green op-shopped cardi.  I've also worn it with a pink cardi this week.

So I'm calling this my Sort Of Alma Blouse in View B...

I think I'll try View A next!