Stella Blouse and a Little Announcement

1.10.2014

STEEEEEEEELA!!!!! Now that I've gotten that out of my system, let's talk about my new Stella blouse.
I know it's cruel of me to parade completely awesome deep stash fabric in front of you. Especially if you'd just put it on your "to burgle list." Gotta act fast people, we be stash busting around these parts. If you're thinking, "Haven't I seen this fabric before?" then yes you are correct. I used the majority of the yardage in 2009 to make Burda 117 which I wore during Me Made May last year.
I started Stella in early December before everyone came down with germs. I "hilariously" set the sleeves in while the germs were over taking my body. Let me tell you, sick Heather can't set in a sleeve for shit. It looked like a drunk money had a go at the sewing machine.  In fact I'm pretty sure it was a drunk monkey that set those sleeves. Curse you drunk monkey, I had to rip those things out and do it again.

Happily the sewing goddess felt I'd paid my dues dealing with drunk monkeys and the rest of the construction went well. I even managed not to cut half my buttonhole threads when cutting out the button hole tab.  Take that drunk monkey!
Pattern
Stella from Bluegingerdoll

Fabrics used
Feather print was an Italian cotton remnant. The yardage originally from Emmaonesock.com
Black tabs are a stretch cotton twill, also a remnant.
In fact the only thing I bought for this project was the 7" invisible zipper. Go stash buster go!

Pattern changes/alterations
1. Normal 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment to shoulder seam and sleeve cap.
2. Normal 1/2" board upper back adjustment with added shoulder dart.
3. Sway back adjustment of 3/4".
4. Increased dart intake of back dart to 1 7/8".
5. Dropped the point of the front waist dart by 1 1/2".
6. Dropped the bust dart by about 1 1/4".  I just crossed out the existing dart, drew in a new one at my position and then trued up the side seam.
7. Dropped the armholes 1/2".
8. Added 3/8" to each side of the sleeve to increase the sleeve diameter by 3/4".
9. Lengthened the sleeve by 1 1/2" cause I was in the mood for 3/4 sleeves.

Confessions/Advice
1. After measuring the pattern I decided to size up from a 10/12 combo to a 12/14 combo. I like a little more ease in a garment where the fabric has no stretch.  This worked out well except in the shoulder area, which I should have kept at a size 10.  I completely forgot about fixing this until putting the blouse on to take these picture. Oops!

2. I've lost around 4 lb since fitting this blouse and it probably needs to be taken in a bit.

3. I recommend cutting down the seam allowances on the tabs to at least 3/8". It's much easier to sew a nice curve with smaller seam allowances. In this pic I've just cut them down on the the top side around to the notch. That way I didn't have to cut down my pocket edge that was already serged.
image
4. I ran into a problem with the front dart when pinning up the hem. I think the dart intake is a bit too big for the hem to sit flatly with you sew it.  Before you cut your real fabric I suggest you make a change to the pattern like this.
- Take the front bodice and draw in the hem line. 
- Fold the pattern up on the hem line and measure the difference between the dart lines.
- Adjust the dart legs so that they are closer to the width of the dart at the location where you fold it up. 
Husband Comment
"That's a nice utilitarian tunic with functional pockets. Feathery Heather.....those are supposed to be feathers, right?" I think my husband needs an education on what tunic is and only he would call this garment utilitarian.  However my new mini frog agrees about the pockets.
My Final Thoughts
This is a great design to showcase a bold print and it's super simple to sew. I'm also pretty exciting about it's hacking potential.  Muhaaa haaaa Plans!  But first I must raid that hidden cold war bunker to get the top secret pattern drafting book.  Operation Stella is a go.
Announcement
I'm pleased to reveal that Abby asked me to be a part of Bluegingerdoll.  She's still the designing brains of the operation, I'll just be taking a few housekeeping tasks off her hands. My main job will be generating content for the Bluegingerdoll blog. Tutorials, pattern hacks, stuff like that.  And of course I'll be sewing up all the Bluegingerdoll patterns, but I was gonna do that anyway.

43 comments:

  1. Congratulations Heather! You are the perfect pick for BlueGinger.
    I love the dart modification at the hemline - what a clever idea!
    And you can send my drunk monkey home, thanks for babysitting him :-) x

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  2. Wow I love it in a print! Planning mine out soon!

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  3. Love it! Mini-Frog really stands out. Congrats on the weight loss too!!

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  4. Exciting you'll be working with Abby! Stella looks great too!

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  5. This looks so cute on you! Great job! And congrats!

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  6. Whoo! Congrats on your new gig. And sewing up a cute blouse. And stash-busting. And losing 4 lbs. Everything is coming up Heather!

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  7. Wheeeeee! I'm so excited for you to start blogging for Blue Ginger Doll! Your Abby looks great - I like the looser fit! And I can tell Mini Frog is a
    fan!

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  8. Fantastic Stella and fantastic annoouncement! Yay for Heather, Abby, Stella, and Froggie!!

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  9. Sounds like you have been visited by the same sleeve setting monkey that occasionally visits my house!
    Final product looks great, you scared him off again. I can't wait to see your new Blog stuff.

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  10. Congratulations feathery Heather!

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  11. Congratulations! That is very exciting.

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  12. Congratulations! Go you, in your fine new Stella. Excellent stash bust.

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  13. I'm so proud! Look at all the stash busting you've been doing! Congrats on getting to work with BlueGingerDoll!
    Lovely top too!

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  14. The fit of the blouse is really great, I love how it goes in a little at the waist, very flattering. The fabric is amazing as well.
    Congrats on your writing and sewing gig, I'm sure you'll be brilliant... Doesn't make my list of 'Blogs-to-read' a little longer. :-D

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  15. Congrats on getting to blog for a pattern company! Now you really get to have all the patterns (from them at least.) The blouse is fun, and it's great that you were able to make it from leftovers.

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  16. Wow! I love the top and the fabric! And congratulations on helping Abby out! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

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  17. Congrats Heather. Great announcement

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  18. I love this! Great shape on you and the (functional, woo!!) pockets with the trim are super cute. Cool fabric, too! Nice work on the BGD role!

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  19. Thank you Morgan, things are coming up Heather. I hope there's no crazy side effects to that. :)

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  20. Thanks Gillian, I feel like this wasn't my best fitting job but you're making me feel better about it.

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  21. Thank you Melanie. Froggie says he hopes this doesn't mean less cookies are in his future. Silly frog.

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  22. Thank you Becki. That sleeve setting monkey really gets around. He needs to find a new hobby that isn't messing up our garments.

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  23. Thank you Shannon, Heather likes feathers best. hee hee

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  24. Thank you Laura, I'm excited and nervous.

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  25. Thanks Andrea, I must tell you that you chai pancakes on the blog made my mouth water. I must try them in the future.

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  26. Thanks Em, I'm working hard on my busting to start the year. Wheeeeeee!

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  27. Thanks Wendy. My list of blogs to read is growing too! So many talented people to read about, how will we find the time to sew. :)

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  28. Thank you Becky. I was surprised there was a remnant this big in the stash! Sometimes the stash amazes me.

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  29. Thank You VickiKate, I'm hoping the old gray cells will kick in and come up with some fun ideas.

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  30. Thanks Latrice, I guess this means it's "real" now. Ahhhhh!

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  31. Thank you Melanie, I agree with you about the pocket details. So Cute!

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  32. Congrats on Blueginger Heather! You will have a blast!!

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  33. Thank you Maris, I'll do my best to bring the fun.

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  34. Got all the confidence that will happen! :-)

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  35. Nice dart tip. Congrats on your Blueginerdoll duties! I'm sure you'll be fantastic. Looking forward to seeing what you make/hack/monstermash!

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  36. Congrats! This is perfect since you always have the best construction details. I look forward to your posts on Bluegingerdoll! Great top - I love the button tab detail. Tell that drunk monkey that New Years is over!

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  37. Thank you Chuleenan, I've got my pattern mash song all queued up for maximum mashing. ;)

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  38. Thanks Shar, I'm gonna kick that drunk monkey out of the house. Crazy lush.

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  39. I'm still catching up on my blog reading obviously! Congrats Heather! So many great things happening for you. Love the top as well!

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  40. I always love seeing your final product after getting snippets on IG. Your fabric is perfect for a Stella - yay for stash busting. Congrats on the match-up with Abbey over at Bluegingerdoll - I love that name!

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  41. Thank you Margo, I'm hoping for an exciting 2014.

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  42. Thank you Sandra, it does feel super good to stash bust. Especially little bits like that black fabric.

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