SEWN: Vintage Vogue 9247

I'm finally back!

So this creation was one I started prior to my redundancy. I had gotten about halfway when all that happened and as I wrote in my last post, I just couldn't face sewing for a time. All that "yuckiness" just seriously got me down, and I just couldn't find the joy in my sewing. But I now feel really good, and hence finally getting this done.

May I introduce vintage Vogue 9247, view B

How very pirate-y! Don't you just love the style of the 70's? Or is that just me?

I had meant to blog about how this pattern came into my hands, but never quite got there. So long story short. My manager, prior to my redundancy, moved a few months ago and having thought she'd got rid of her pattern stash years ago, came across the mother lode of mother lodes. Knowing my obsession interest in vintage patterns from the 60's and 70's and having admired many of my creations she knew this would be just like Christmas for me. And before I knew it, I landed about 50, yes 50, patterns from that era. Oh the joy! The heavens opened, the angels sang... oh sorry, got a bit carried away. Let's just say I was a little bit excited.

And this is my first creation from that stash...

Can I just take a second now and apologise profusely for the dreadful photography? Two things, 1) I no longer have a hubby around in daylight hours to take my photos (he's got a new job outside the home), and 2) it has done nothing but rain in Sydney since the day I finished this, so I have had no natural light to do this right.

Today saw a brief bit of sun come through and I grabbed a chance to use my timer function on my gee-wizz camera for the first time. Suffice to say, I need some practice...

This blouse is made up in a gorgeous cotton Tana lawn from Spotlight. I haven't sewn a shirt of any kind before and I found this reasonably challenging.













The construction was like a jigsaw puzzle with that neckline/yoke thing going on. I made a few departures from the instructions, which I now feel may have been a mistake. I used a lightweight fusible interfacing in the neck and shoulder facings, when the pattern called for a non-fusible. I was going for ease of construction, but I have found that no matter how much I press those facings they seem to be perpetually slightly wrinkly, which may be as a result of using the fusible on this fabric - not such a good match perhaps? You can perhaps see this issue in the image below.

I sewed in the sleeve cuff/bindings incorrectly and so there is stitching visible on the outside, but I'm not too concerned with this given all the topstitching elsewhere.

I had some great bright orange/red vintage buttons in my stash. The pattern required 8 buttons and a snap fastener, but I only had 7 buttons, so I re-spaced the buttons on the front closure. I'm perfectly happy with the results. There is also the required snap fastener near the bottom of the shirt front.

I made no sizing alterations. It's quite forgiving given it is quite blousey.

I actually really like this blouse! It is really meant for a tucked-in look, but I am not much of a tuck-in kind of girl and I'm equally happy with it un-tucked. I get the feeling that it occasionally gives the impression of a maternity top from certain angles, so I am wearing it with very slim pants to get the right silhouette.

Sew that's it! Another vintage pattern made up and loved!