Fleece Jacket with Exposed Zippers

Fleece Jacket with Exposed Zippers:  Fleece is great to work with.  Despite it's bulkiness, it's very easy to sew.  You just want to make sure you do a lot of grading to keep the bulk to a minimum.  This has a cute mandarin collar and a bit of piping above the front zipper.  The entire neckline and zippers are topstitched to keep everything in place.  I added more contrast at the cuffs for interest.  The cuffs are split so I can wear them up or down.  Exposed zippers can be tricky.  In hindsight, I would have lined my welt with a lightweight organza in black, but I had none in stock, so I lined them with fleece.  This made it a bit bulky to sew so I had to baste the pockets before sewing. 

Silk Charmuese Short Sleeve Button Down Top

This was my entry in the sewing bee contest on Pattern Review.  I've never entered a contest so I though it would be a fun challenge.   Plus, it pushed me to make something I normally would just purchase.

This was my entry in the sewing bee contest on Pattern Review:

Pattern Review Contest

Sewing Bee Round 1 - Fitted Blouse

Pattern or style used and how it fits the criteria:

This is a self drafted fitted blouse.  This was a big stretch for me since I generally like to make jackets and dresses and when I venture to sew a top I prefer using knit fabrics or cotton wovens.  So I went to the drafting table and 2 muslins later I have a great fitting shirt, that’s very comfortable to wear. I achieved the bust to waist fitting criteria of the contest by shaping my garment with bust darts, front and back fish-eye darts and a center back seam.  

  

Since the contest allows for an optional collar I added my favorite collar, the mandarin style.

My fabric of choice is a rich brown silk charmeuse that is woven only.  The slippery silk is tricky to work with so needless to say this blouse took some ridiculously long time to make.

Set in sleeves are required so I made a short sleeve with a tiny bit of extra ease to give it a puffer look.  The sleeves are raw edge.  I achieved this by simply stitching a stay stitch 3/8" from the edge and then fraying it slightly with my fingers.  I wanted the shirt to have some touches of uniqueness and because it’s silk I did not want it to look like pajamas.

The fabric used is silk charmeuse approximately 2 yards since I decide to do a front and neck facing instead of a placket.  

As far as other components go, I went with a mandarin collar.  Turn of cloth was considered when I made this collar to ensure all seemliness roll to the under collar.  All elements are under stitched.  As well, all pieces were stay- stiched before assembly to get that great hugging affect.  French seams were used for most of my finishing so the inside looks very tidy.  The sleeve seams were finished using yellow bias strips.  I ran out of the brown so I used a nice contrast. I broke out my hemming foot to do the hem.   I just love a chance to use my sewing feet.    

I also added a small button down breast pocket on the left side only.  I’m not a huge fan of topstitching so that’s why I decided on a faced front instead of a placket front.  I only topstitched the collar, the pocket details, the hem and the stay stitching for the raw edge sleeve.  

As required I included photos:  Front, back, inside, pocket, collar and raw edge sleeve.

Describe what you like most about this blouse:

I love how comfortable it is, and that I can wear it casually or dressy.  I love the color and I love that I can move in it.  And I love that it only cost me about $23.00 to make.  Silk shirts can be very pricey in RTW.

Describe your biggest challenge in creating this blouse:

My biggest challenge in sewing this blouse was working with silk.  Silk just has a mind of it’s own.  

What other information would you like to share about this blouse and your process?   This was a fun project that was a good challenge for me.  I learned somewhere online to prewash your silk if you want to be able to machine or hand wash it later.  So I did that.