Liberty Mimi Blouse

Love at First Stitch, by Tilly Walnes, breaks the mould of typical sewing books and gives a bunch of great patterns instead of the usual home furnishings and tote bags. The book had me wanting to make most of the garments in it and I have a long to-sew queue from it.

I started with the Mimi Blouse, a perfect match for Liberty Tana Lawn. I have been wanting to sew with this fabric ever since I first went to Liberty and fondled the lovely bolts of fabric. I finally got around to buying some at the Knitting and Stitching Show in March.

Mimi is a cute, button front blouse with lots of lovely design features. I particularly love the Chelsea collar swooping down along the v-neckline, just deep enough to be interesting, without being revealing.

The pattern is really easy to trace, (thanks to House of Pinhero for the baking paper tip!) the pieces are all on the same sheet and there is no crazy overlapping like you get with Burda Style.

I traced a size 3, and - completely unheard of, for me - made a toile. It turns out the blouse is very roomy, the gathers at the back yoke look lovely at the top, but they do add a lot of volume through the rest of the blouse. I took a large wedge off the hips and graded it down to the size 2 through the side seams. The sleeves were a bit small at the cuff, something I had also read from other bloggers who have made this. I changed the seam allowance at the cuff of the sleeve to be 1cm, instead of 1.5cm.

I didn't interface the topside of the collar, I vaguely remember reading somewhere that it is the underside that is interfaced, so I did that. I wondered whether it was really worth interfacing the full facings, but I did. I added another small patch of interfacing underneath each buttonhole to help stabilise them.

I remembered to make a tiny sway back adjustment, I just pulled up the centre section at the gathered yoke, it helps a bit.

My buttons are vintage, from my grandmother's stash. I am so pleased with how perfect they are for this blouse.

I've also changed how I wear it. The longer sleeve length looked a bit frumpy to me, so I have cuffed the sleeve so that the facing is on show. It's a shame because it covers up the cute pleats, but the smaller puffed sleeve suits me better.

I like it better tucked in, but from these photos, I can see I look better with it untucked.

The Tana Lawn was lovely to sew with and is great to wear. It really is a marvellous fabric. I chose this greenish grey because I wanted something a bit neutral and not too ditsy. Since I made it, I have worn it at the weekend, and to work, and got compliments!

Costs:
 Fabric, Liberty: £28.00
 Interfacing, Clothspot: £2.00
 Thread, used previously: £0.00
 Buttons, from Granny's stash: £0.00
 Pattern, Tilly Walnes: £4.50 (1/3 of book price)
 Toile fabric, salvaged: £0.00
Total: £34.50