Polka Dots are Forever

Hi folks, you might have noticed that the blog has been rather quiet as of late.  Back in May I stopped taking blog pics on Sunday mornings and have yet to find a new day and/or time that works. Gah! I'm also one of those people who can't write a blog post if the pictures aren't already taken. For some reason my brain needs to be staring at the garment to write about it.  It's like all pattern related files are auto deleted as soon as a garment is finished.  Brain's like, "Got to get rid of all this sewing crap. I need more room for remembering new song lyrics." Anyway, plenty of sewing has been happening, so I'm hoping to get back into a picture taking/blog writing grove soon. Cross your fingers for me and send some blinders to keep me from being distracted by shiny new things.

You may remember way, way, way back in January that one of my sewing goals this year was to make some 40's style blouses. At the time I didn't have any patterns, but that was soon rectified in the blouse buying extravaganza of Easter Break 2016. It was a cold spring people, a girl has to cope somehow.  Out of all the blouses purchased McCall's 4265 was by far my favorite.  Probably because I'd lustfully started at it on The Blue Gardenia website for a few months before pulling the trigger.  The red polka dot blouse filled my dreams for many nights. It had to be mine!!!

Since the technical drawing is minuscule on the envelope, let me quickly describe the design.  The blouse has a front yoke with 2 pleats. There are tucks in the waist area on both the front and back. The collar is an interesting construction, one long rectangle that is sandwiched between the cut on facing. Finally the shoulder caps are darted to give the strong 40's shoulder. Basically lot of nice little touches that made me itch to get this pattern on the sewing machine.

Luckily for me the stash already contained many yards of red polka dot shirting, so I set off to copy the good taste of the fashion illustrator. Polka dots are forever....words to live by or a lesser known James Bond film. Anyway, this blouse whipped up in a jiffy thanks to well behaved cotton and my desire channel my inner Minnie Mouse.  OK Mouseketeers, start singing the theme song!

Actually no one has made a Minnie Mouse reference yet and I've worn this blouse a ton.  It makes me happy so I get complements instead of mouse jokes. :) I really love the collar and the lowish button placement which is flattering with my whole low bust situation.  For some reason I also like the tucks in this garment when they usually bother me.  Might be that they complement the yoke pleats and so the extra ease seems more balanced. What ever the reason I'm very pleased with this project and have already started sewing up another one in rayon. Huzzah!

Pattern
McCalls 4265 (Envelope pic above...of course)

Fabrics used
Stretch cotton shirting originally from Elliott Berman Textiles.

Pattern changes/alterations
1. 1/2 Forward shoulder adjustment to the shoulder and sleeve.  I needed to change the angle of the some of the shoulder cap darts after the adjustment. The new ones are in purple ink.

2. Added 1/2" extra ease in the waist area.

3. Added one extra button to the front below the two shown in the illustration.

Confessions/Advice
- This project was the first time I decided to make shoulder pads from scratch with the pattern pieces provided. While it wasn't a bad learning experience, I'm not 100% happy with the way they feel when wearing the blouse. My homemade ones are kind of heavy and non flexible when compared to the nice one's I buy from the semi local Steve's Sewing. Probably will go back to covering store bought ones in future versions.

Husband Comment
"Looks good. Polka, polka, polka dots.  Why are they called that anyway?" (According to google -  "It is likely that the term originated in popularity of Polka dance at the time the pattern became fashionable, just as many other products and fashions of the era also adopted the "polka" name.")

My Final Thoughts
Glad I finally listened to my gut and bought this pattern before it slipped away. It's pretty much everything I want in a 40's blouse.......not that I'm going to stop buying blouse patterns. That's just crazy talk.

P.S. - The very faint writing on the pattern envelope says, "Dorthy, please make my blouse pattern B (Short Sleeves) Mrs. Gassmann."   Do you think Dorthy will put the buttonholes in my rayon blouse when she's done with Mrs. Gassmann's garment?  One can only hope.