Sunday 15 May 2016

Mimi blouse; Love at First Stitch.

Hello all. There's been no sewing this weekend, as life has been full of birthday parties and old friends. Therefore, today's make is from a few weeks ago; it's the Mimi blouse, from Tilly Walnes book Love at First Stitch. I have to admit, I held out against buying this book, and determined that I didn't need it. But fate had other plans, as a great friend bought me a copy for my birthday last year.


I have a quasi-rule that, if I have a book in the house like this (as with recipes in a cookery book), then I must make something from it, to justify its place on the shelves. I was trying to work out which pattern I would play with, and I saw so many lovely versions of the Mimi Blouse on the internet (e.g. Pootlemakes did a lovely version here) I felt inspired to give it a go! The gathers are very pretty too.


This is another fabric that I inherited from my Nan's stash, which has been patiently waiting for a project. It is a voile, and definitely seethrough! I will always need to wear something underneath, but that's fine. I think it will work with little bralettes, which are my preferred underwear anyway.


I had trouble with the sleeves, hence it became a sleeveless top!  When I sewed them on, the top was suddenly too tight across the bust. Thanks to sewing friends on Instagram, I have lots of ideas to rectify this on version #2, but for this one I have cut my losses and got rid of the sleeves; I used binding to finish the armholes, to create the sleeveless version you can see in the photos.

I am pointing at the gathers and pointy collar like a crazy, here!

I am pleased with the top and will very likely make it again, however I felt the instructions in the book were somewhat lacking. Had I not made the vintage shirtdress recently I doubt I could have followed the instructions. This surprised me, as nearly every review of Love at First Stitch waxes lyrical on Tilly's instructions and general hand-holding. Well, I like the pattern but the "how to" could have been a good deal clearer!



All's well that ends well, though, as I have a cute summer top to go with skirts, jeans or shorts. So, I am happy.

14 comments:

  1. Glad it worked out. It's a cute blouse on you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, I like it a lot more than I thought I would.

      Delete
  2. This looks lovely. I have a sleeveless version almost finished myself

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like the sleeveless top version - perfect for this nice weather we have been having recently. Good luck with the sleeves on version #2.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes this will come into its own on those baking hot days.

      Delete
  4. It's very pretty - and sometimes I find a sleeveless blouse is great for wearing over a short sleeve t-shirt as well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I do like the collar and the voile looks lovely and cool

    ReplyDelete
  6. Glad it worked out in the end - it looks really pretty sleeveless! As for the instructions, I haven't made this blouse but I found instructions for other projects in this book really thorough - maybe Mimi is the exception?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was surprised by the instructions, I may be being harsh but I wouldn't have been able to follow them without previous knowledge. Perhaps I was misreading it!

      Delete
  7. Glad your blouse had a happy ending. I actually really like it sleeveless - it's cute and summery.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I like it sleeveless and may even make another sleeveless!

      Delete
  8. I never would have thought this was intended any other way but sleeveless, it looks lovely! Perfect for summer.

    ReplyDelete