I have been having some serious bad sewing luck over the past two weeks. I was worried I wouldn’t have anything new to share again this Monday but Saturday night the tides turned and I sewed up the Brunch Blouse from Patterns for Pirates!
The Pattern
The Brunch Blouse is a dolman style blouse or dress with three sleeve options – tank top, cap sleeve or short sleeve. The pattern also has a number of ways to customize the blouse or dress including a henley neckline option, chest pocket, waist ties and short sleeve cuff with button tabs. It has three lengths/hem options – shirt length, tunic curved hem length and dress curved hem length. The neckline is finished with bias binding and the pattern features a center back seam.
I really liked how many different options there were in one pattern. While not all of them are really my style, I know I want to try out the tank top version as well. Also, the Patterns for Pirates patterns all have no trim PDFs which make assembling them super quick and layers so you only need to print out the sizes you need. Unlike the Cocoon Cardigan, all the pattern pieces were included which made for super easy print –> cut.
I have been trying not to print out instructions and using my computer instead and it was also nice to see that their PDF has clickable links to take you from one part of the instructions to the next. Since there are so many options in the pattern, I think thats a nice feature so you don’t have to keep scrolling to find the next part that’s relevant.
The Top
I recently have been loving wearing short sleeve tops to work. I don’t feel like I have to wear a sweater if I don’t want to but can put one on if I need it. That’s why I decided to sew up the short sleeve version. It’s a perfect shirt for me – easy to wear to work and easy to wear on the weekends.
The top came together so quickly because it has very few pieces with the dolman sleeves. I used bias tape that I bought on Etsy which was probably the longest part of the process. I had some issues getting the bias tape neckline to sit completely flat. But I don’t think it’s too bad and In my experience, that gets a little bit better overtime after it’s been washed.
My favorite feature of the top is the sleeve cuffs. They remind me a lot of a woven version of the Santa Fe Top from Hey June.
The Fabric
I used a solid rayon from LA Finch Fabrics that I bought a couple months ago in different colors. Who doesn’t need another solid rayon shirt in their wardrobe? I also randomly had matching thread in my stash (I’m looking at you Tropicana Mettler Thread).
The only thing I should have been more careful of with this rayon was using a press cloth. On the darts and the cuffs there was some shine on the right side of the fabric that I hope goes away when I wash it.
Brunch Blouse Summar
Size Made: Medium
View: Short Sleeve with cuff and curved shirt hem
Fabric Used: LA Finch Fabrics Solid Rayon Challis in Coral
Notions Used: Dritz EZ Hem [my favorite tool for hemming!], Mettler Thread, Schmetz Universal Needles
Ease of Construction: Came together really quickly and easily. The bias tape and the baby 1/4″ hem on the bottom is the trickiest part.
Fit: Good!
Repeatable? Yes! Next up, I want to make the tank top version.
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