Nothing is as constant as change

But what, if it doesn't???

Hi, Y'all!

You might have enjoyed the silence last week. And although I was on staycation, I was deeply engaged in something, I wanted to show you only when finished :-)

But let's start at the beginning: You might remember the high-collared blouse I wanted to sew - I told about it in my new years DIY plans. I even had chosen a pattern which I only had to buy and print. And then along came Polly.... aka Corona. And with it the order to work from home. No problem, in case you've got a printer - which I don't. And taking the risk to drive to the office to print it there, was no option at all. Of course I could buy the paper pattern and have it shipped to me, but once I decided to start my project, I didn't want to wait any longer.

Therefore, change of plan: No ready-made pattern but develop one on my own. Luckily there is a video tutorial on how to sew that blouse, where I could have a good look at all the pattern parts. Besides, I decided to do a mock-up version which I usually don't. But this special collar form called for a test. Well, then I dragged an old bed sheet out of my closet, which normally serves as tablecloth for our party buffet table. Unfortunately the fabric bears some nasty stains (red wine, gravy - you name it). But that didn't bother me, as I only wanted it to transfer my pattern onto fabric and to test and try some amendments to the pattern.

Then I grabbed a well-fitting blouse and traced it's pattern onto some leftover gift wrapping paper. I could copy the front and back as well as the sleeves pretty much without change. The cuffs I drew free-handed, and then I constructed the collar with matching lining. Afterwards I cut it out of the sheet and sewed it together - though the cuffs without lining, without interfacing for the collar and without serging the seams. And quelle surprise - it worked out pretty well and needed only minor amendments.

So I could dare to work with the original fabric and - without praising myself too much - I really liked it.  

To proudly present it to my hubby I slipped it on, and much to my dismay I had to realize that it sticks to my body like glue due to electrostatic charge. Bummer! I was really disappointed, because I liked the fabric so much. Of course I knew that this was an artificial fiber (I guess acrylic of some kind), but I had only positive experience with these kind of fabrics so far, and I definitely didn't see that coming.

Which options did I have? 

• I could sew a lining, but then I would lose the flowiness and daintiness of the garment.
• Cotton underwear - been there, done that, didn't work.
• I would never wear a tight fitting top which left me with only one other option: shirring. I could sew a shirred blouse which is more or less fitted, but comfy because of the elastic thread. Yeah, could work, but to be honest: I would only wear it if I magically lost 10 kg. I don't expect that to happen in the near future; thus I took the blouse as it was and put it away in my fabric stash. Maybe I can use it as lining for pant pockets or a pouch :( 

Which left me with my mock-up...

After the first anger was gone, I returned to my mock-up. I cleaned up all seams and made double-faced cuffs - very neat, but alas, the stains were still there. To get rid of them, I soaked the blouse in stain remover for a whole night.

When it was dry, the stains became lighter, but they were still visible and I might have to cut them to fully remove them :-) Sure I could dye the top - there are tutorials galore how to dye fabric with natural colors such as curcuma, beetroot or black tea. But a) I liked the white, b) such projects tend to go wrong and c) I had no guarantee that the stains would be invisible after dyeing. Way too much uncertainties for my liking - I didn't want to risk another change of plan...

So I decided to simply cover them. First idea: decorative stitching as I did on the baby bonnet. Well.... Second idea: appliqués, although not so neat, but with fringed seams like you know it from Alabama Chanin designs. Yessssss, that might work!

First try with normal sewing thread stitched in spirals: 

But then I changed it to concentric circles instead of spirals with mercerised cotton thread:

I really, really like it! At the moment, I only placed the appliquès where I wanted to cover stains, but I might add a few more. On the other hand, there is only a thin line between nicely done and overdone, so I tend to leave it as is.

Summary: I love it when a plan comes together. And when it doesn't, you have to change it, until it does :-)

Have fun making - and realizing - plans!!!