Bandwagon Sewing - Simplicity 1554

Hello everyone, hope you are enjoying the beginning of Fall. Or as I call it about these parts, "Just die already summer."  Oh course summer is aware it almost succeeded in breaking me this year and is sticking around trying to finish the job. Not gonna work summer, all my Halloween window clings are elevating my mood. I'm also on a sugar high from bite sized Halloween candies. (A 10 pound bag will last me till Halloween proper...right? God, when will I learn never to break the candy bag seal.)

The small upside of it being 85 and disgustingly humid is that I got photos of all the summer sewing you know nothing about. Let me quantify that, photos of all the summer garments.  Not all my summer sewing was seasonally appropriate. Two fully lined wool jackets and one unlined wool blouse/jacket were also completed during the season of too much sun.  One lesson I have learned is that Christmas garment sewing (for yourself) doesn't get done if you wait till the 4th quarter.  This year my closest has more red/green/black garments for my Christmas theme dressing needs. I can barely wait!

Let's put a pin in the merits of wool and roll the clock back to June to some of the last bit of stash busting that happened this summer. (Hazards of working at a fabric store.) May I present Simplicity 1554, my second favorite blouse pattern.

OK so usually I buy vintage patterns just because of the look of the fashion illustration or the design details.  I've rarely seen a completed garment on someone else and then went to look for a copy of the pattern. However this blouse kept popping up on Instagram on other vintage ladies accounts.  They'd mention the pattern number and I'd look it up every time. After about the 3rd of 4th time it was obvious I'd better just buy the damn thing already.

This one is labeled "Simple to make" which is mostly true. I'd guess that making bound buttonholes wasn't as big of a deal in the 40's if it was your only option.  The style is easy to fit due to the kimono sleeve and the waist area not being especially fitted. There are two tucks in the back waist mostly to reduce bulk in the hip area.

The pattern gives you a variety of neckline options but they all share the same shirred detail at the shoulder.  This particular design element will join the category of button buttonholes in that it's fiddly AF to make, but you're happy to have done it afterwards.  The pattern comes with a stay piece for the gathered area. You have to hem the stay piece, run 5 parallel lines of gathering on  the shoulder of the blouse, tie off the gathers, then hand stitch the stay piece on the wrong side of the blouse to reinforce everything.  The thought, "why am I doing this?" ran through my head more than once.

However current me is pretty pleased about this picture. Gathers and a dragonfly brooch? Sweeet.

The rest of the construction is straight forward if you've had prior shirt making experience.  The collar on version 1 has no stand, so you just sandwich it in the facings and call it done.  All the hems are rolled, which you can do by hand or machine.

Pattern 
Simplicity 1554 -View 1.

Fabrics used
Polka dot stretch cotton from Gertie's etsy store.  That glorious summer in 2013 when she sold yardage from NY and I bought soooo much fabric and wish I'd bought even more.  This may be the last piece from that stash building hull.

Pattern changes/alterations
1. Graded up the pattern to a 36" bust.
2. Put in standard 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment.

Confessions/Advice
Those of you who follow me on Instagram may remember that I completed all the bound buttonholes on the front only to discover they were not evenly spaced.  I had to cut a new front and start from scratch. Why do these things always happen with bound buttonholes? Pretty sure someone cursed me for stealing their bite sized candy bar.

Husband Comment
"More polka dots for my sours!"  (He is "sweets", I am "sours" and as they say, the shoe fits.)

My Final Thoughts
This blouse was my most worn make of the summer.  While it didn't knock McCall's 4265 out of the top blouse spot, I keep wishing a black windowpane plaid version would spontaneously appear in my closet.  The kimono sleeves and loose fit made it great for all but the hottest weather. Most of the time I paired it with this black circle skirt, but it also looks nice with an A-line skirt of pants.  Overall I'd highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of Simplicity 1554 if you're looking for a good wardrobe builder.

I've got two more summer dresses to show you....hopefully before December. Maybe frog can hide all my electronic devices until the blogging is caught up. Bad bloggers don't get match 3 games or 10 pound bag of Halloween candy.