dotty old mathilde

wow the start of 2014 has been great for me for sewing makes.  here's tilly and the button's mathilde blouse.  i really like this make.

the fabric is a heav'ish silk and it came from darn cheap fabrics from this visit.  i really like the 2 fabrics i purchased on the visit and am rapt they turned into 2 great pieces - this mathilde and my style 2622 dress.

i think the silk was about $22.95m (thought i kept the receipt but can't find it and also can't see this fabric online.  it was 1.7m wide(!) and i purchased 80cm thinking at the time i would make a grainline scout. enter stage right amy of sew amy sew and her recent mathilde.  on seeing her gorgeous version i remembered i had this pattern sitting in my stash for some time and really wanted to use it.

i read a few web reviews, most of which suggested this pattern is best for light drapey fabrics - but for some reason i still really wanted to give it a go in this fabric. so i did.

as i only had 80cm i needed to do a few of things to fit all the pieces in.  firstly, i cut pieces on both the lengthwise and crosswise grain - you can see this in the photo below.  i was a bit worried that the fabric may have a different sheen on the different grains but after draping the fabric in front of a mirror i thought it should be ok.  you can also see in this photo that i finished the seams with a zig zag stitch.

secondly i took 4" out of the fullness of the sleeves by slashing and overlapping in 3 places (middle and close to sides) at the bottom of the sleeves.  i also shortened them by about an inch due to fabric restrictions.  lastly, i cut the back on the fold line, which i actually would have done regardless.  after trying it on i decided i needed to take in the back a bit further and so stitched a 3/8" seam down the centre back.  i can still get it on and off no problems.   i only have a few scraps left which is fantastic as my scrap fabric collection is quite big.

i interfaced the cuffs for stability when turning them under, but wish i didn't.  they are a bit bulky and puffy but still ok.  i also slip stitched the cuff down instead of stitching in the ditch like the instructions suggest, as 1 i quite like finishing makes with hand stitching as its a nice way to slow down and finish a garment; and 2 i wasn't sure how good my ditch stitching would be over the gathers and bulk of the fabric.

the hem was also a bit tricky given the bulk of the fabric at the pin tucks, so i hand stitched the hem in these areas prior to doing it with the machine.

tilly's pattern is fantastic.  the pdf taped together perfectly - usually i get little puckers here and there when taping patterns together, but this went together perfectly.  i really like the short instruction tick box sheet too as this is supplemented with full instructions and photos on tilly's blog.  i didn't look at the full instructions much, but it is great to have them available.  all in all its a great pattern.

this is definitely one of my favourite recent makes - watch this space for some more versions.

emma