Quick and easy peasant blouse

I recently finished a quick and easy peasant blouse out of cotton lawn, No. 2 on my summer top sewing list.

The pattern promises “easy,” and it really was. I made View C.

I made a muslin (from an old sheet) primarily so I’d know where the bust point was (important for fitting) and to check the overall length. The only changes I ended up making were a full-bust adjustment with the new French darts I tried on the last project (still love them), and to lengthen the bodice and the sleeves an inch each.

The whole project, from muslin to final, took only two weeks, with the sewing of the fashion fabric taking only two days!

(I had high hopes of sewing up the fashion fabric in one day, but alas, I’m just not built for that level of concentration.)

New Look 6179. It’s difficult to tell here, but the sleeves have quarter-inch elastic in the hems.

The neckline is quarter-inch elastic in a casing, with skinny ties attached to the end of the elastic. The elastic comes nearly all the way to the keyhole front and the fabric ties are plenty long enough, so I think I’ll cut the elastic 4 inches shorter than the guide for the next go around.

In this closeup of New Look 6197, you can see the keyhole detail and the ties.

This blouse is actually a direct replacement for a very similar knit top that I have. But that originally OK-fitting top has shrunk and shrunk and shrunk in the wash so much that now it’s a crop top!

A HUGE benefit of sewing is making clothes that fit my full bust (without excess fabric at the waist or the hemline rising up in the front) and is long enough.

I’m so pleased with how this classic style turned out, that next up I’ll be making another one from ivory eyelet, bought during the same trip to Fabric Outlet in San Francisco as the cotton lawn.

And since the pattern is already fitted, I can make another in about the same amount of time it would take to find a ready-to-wear version that kind of fits.

Maybe I’ll be sick of the pattern after that, but I’d really like a third version in chambray blue with three-quarter sleeves.

For you sewing enthusiasts, how many times in a row can you make a pattern before you’re tired of it and want to make something different?