Vogue 8772

During the heat wave I made another sleeveless blouse. I actually sewed this one before the Dana Point Top. I searched my pattern stash for a suitable pattern, read a lot of reviews at Pattern review and finally settled on Vogue 8772. This is a basic shirt pattern with different options for sleeves and collar. I made view E, the sleevless version, but used the shorter hemline. I usually wear my blouses tucked in, and I don’t need a lond hemline for this.

Fabric:

I had this linen in my stash that was just enough for a sleeveless blouse. It has a heavy drape and I am not sure if this is 100% linen or not. Due to the drape and the fact that it does barely wrinkle, I guess that this is rather a linen blend. I even made a burn test, but as I have never done a burn test before, the result did not mean anything to me. Nevertheless, it was easy to sew and is very comfortable to wear. The buttons are also from my stash. I think I saved them from an old project, but I do not remember which one. Whatever, I think they match perfectly with the fabric and casual style of this blouse.

Alterations:

My measurements put me in a size 10, but according to the final measurments of the garment and also some suggestions from the reviews I read, I cut a size 8. After a first try on I decided to make a SBA. I also corrected the shoulder slope a bit and raised it 1 cm at the armhole side. Maybe I could have straightened it a bit more, I am not sure. To add a bit more to the casual look I decided to add breast pockets. I used the pockets from the Mila shirt as a starting point and played with the size and placement until I got the proportions right. However, looking at the pictures I think I could have placed them a bit higher, what do you think? As this blouse is kind of a wearable muslin, I transferred the seamlines to the fabric with yellow tracing paper well knowing that the yellow dots would not disappear. The fabric is thick enough that they do not show on the outside, so I am fine with that. I cut rather big seam allowances so that I was able to baste, fit and make my changes during sewing.

Construction:

Construction was straight forward. The button placket is cut on, the front has a bust and a waist dart. The back is quite simple with a waist dart and an additional dart at the shoulder, no yoke.

This is the only picture I have from the back view and you cannot see the shoulder darts, but believe me, they are there. All seams are serged. I decided to topstitch shoulder and side seams to add a bit of interest to this else very plain blouse. For the hem I serged the edge and then folded the hem allowance to the inside and topstitched it in place. This method works really well with a shirttail hem.

For the collar I tried to follow this tutorial from Sewing Galaxy, because I always have difficulties to get the top corners of the placket even with the collar stand. So I was really happy that somebody wrote a tutorial for this, however, the first part did not work for me (even with marking the new seamline on my outer collar stand collar stand after folding the seam allowance of my inner collar stand to the inside and carefully basting, I was not able to catch everything when stitching in the ditch afterwards), and the second part I just did not understand. So I did what I always do, I just tried to keep everything even and hope for the best. I think the result is ok but not perfect. Any tips are appreciated!

The armholes are bound with bias tape. I made my own and used a lightweight cotton that I had in the same color in my stash. The linen would have been too thick.

Here is a picture of the upper back, showing the shoulder darts:

Conclusion:

This is a great basic shirt pattern. I love the fit that I achieved, fitted but not tight. This is perfect for my office wardrobe and I have already a lot ideas how to use this pattern in the future. It would be easy to add a back yoke and get rid of the shoulder dart. I also longe to make a version with the little stand up collar and tie, so cute. I have a beautiful red cotton satin in may stash that would be perfect.

For this project I really took my time, from choosing the pattern to fitting and deciding on my sewing techniques. I did not put myself a deadline but simple enjoyed the sewing process. In the end, I am really happy with the result and love this simple little blouse a lot.