When I visited my sister in August last year, she very kindly gave me several lengths of fabric. I fell in love with this very bold printed polyester crepe de chine and knew that it would make a lovely pussy bow blouse.
I drafted a pattern so that the bow would come at the point where a rever would normally turn back, a shaped hemline to the bodice and long sleeves into a button cuff.
When I laid out the fabric I found that I had insufficient for the long sleeves so cut at elbow length and planned to have a narrow elasticated channel at the hem.
The fabric was extremely slippery and I used french seams throughout for the construction. I cut two pieces of fabric 5 inches wide x the width of the fabric (42 inches) for the bow tie. This fitted perfectly into the neckline. I could have made the tie slightly wider – say 6 inches and slightly shorter and have therefore made a note for the next iteration.
I completed the entire construction of the bodice using some pretty buttons from my stash then turned my attention to the sleeves. I pin basted in one sleeve before turning to Instagram® for comments on whether or not to continue with the sleeves or to make the blouse sleeveless.
General consensus was to make sleeveless. I used one of the sleeves to make a long length of bias binding 1¾ inches wide which was pressed in half. After attaching the the wrong side of the armholes, the seam was trimmed and the binding top stitched to the right side of the bodice.
The blouse fits well and the tie is great. I can wear the blouse on its own or under a cardigan or sweater. I count this as a success and now plan to make another with long sleeves to wear under pinafore dresses.
15th January 2020