Butterick 5846 | Jeanne Marie’s Sewing Studio

Vintage style bicycle-print blouse

Completed project, Vintage style May 29, 2015 Comments: 6

I saw a shirting fabric with a bicycle print at Jo-Ann’s and couldn’t resist:

How cute is this little bike?

I decided it was perfect for a shirt, and since I had already altered dress pattern Butterick 5846 to be a blouse, I used that. I did move the tucks down an inch, because I think they stopped too high, and I also made each tuck a little shallower. (As it turns out, the fabric has some stretch to it, so I probably didn’t need to make the tucks shallower. I really need to start paying closer attention to the information on the bolt ends.)

Here’s the finished blouse:

The fabric didn't seem like it would stand on it's own, so I also bought a coordinating blue for the collar.

The fabric seemed like it needed a little something extra, so I decided to use a contrast fabric for the collar. I forgot to take photos when I finished, so these were taken after the first wash.

And the back:

I do like the yoke on this pattern, but I am over making all those tucks!

I think I am over making the 12 tucks called for in this pattern!

Detail of the collar. The light area is just the sun through the shrubbery in my back yard.

Detail of the collar. The light area on the collar is just the sun peeking through the shrubbery in my back yard.

I bought the buttons a while ago from a Jo-Ann’s clearance bin at 50 cents a card. They are octagon shaped and faceted. A good match for the bicycle wheels, I thought.

I’ve worn this blouse a couple of times — once with my wide-leg denim pants and once with some navy capris — and I really like it. But I usually wear blouses untucked with pants or capris, and this really flairs out below the tucks. In short, it makes my butt look big. And I don’t even have a butt.

But this blouse will be fab tucked into a navy skirt. I need to get on that, but the sewing project list is long!

Vintage-style denim pants from Simplicity 3688

Completed project, Vintage style April 3, 2015 Comments: 4

My second attempt at Simplicity 3688 is a success.

This is a distinct improvement over my first go at the pattern. Nearly two years ago, I tried (with a few tragically cut corners) a fitting technique that didn’t work out for me. I decided to go back to my favorite way to fit a pattern: Make a muslin and figure out what I need to change from there.

For those who aren’t familiar, here is the rather famous Simplicity 3688.

Simplicity 3688.

It’s a reproduction of a 1940s pattern that is well-known among people who like to sew vintage styles. I’ve made the skirt twice.

For the pants, I cut the pattern a size smaller in the hips than in the waist, but that’s the only change I made before the muslin.

From the muslin, I determined that it was an inch too long in the crotch and that if I took that inch out through all the darts, they would end in much better spots. I also needed to add two inches to the length. That’s it.

I made the pants from a dark denim (that turned out to be stretch) with white top-stitching thread and a white vintage button at the waist. Here are some closeups of the details.

Simplicity 3688. Photo by Jeanne Marie Tokunaga.

Top-stitching on the waistband.

Adorable vintage button closure.

Note that the buttonhole isn’t stitched with the usual satin stitch. The buttonhole was a new-to-me technique on my sewing machine. The Fancy Damn Sewing Machine has an automatic buttonhole function and fancy foot. You tell the machine how big your button is, set the wheel on the foot so it starts at the beginning of a buttonhole-sewing cycle, and press the foot pedal until your buttonhole is complete. Works like a charm (except on silk).

But I had told the machine I was sewing on heavy denim, so it changed the buttonhole stitch style from a satin stitch to Xs, and it wouldn’t let me go full automatic. I used a regular buttonhole foot. I had to hit the reverse button when the first side was long enough, then the machine made a bar tack and started sewing the other side of the buttonhole. When I pressed the reverse button again, it finished with a bar tack. Amazing.

The pants are very comfortable, and the fit is close, but there are some things I already know I want to tweak for the next time around:

I thought at first that the crotch was still too low, but then I realized that my waist is lower in the front than in the back, and if I fixed the pants to match, the crotch would fall where it should and the pants would hang better. I have already adjusted the pattern at the waistline to accommodate this.
The waist may need to be taken in. Since my hips have always been a size smaller than my waist, I am used to wearing pants very tight in the waist so they aren’t crazy loose in the butt. These pants have zero ease in the waist, but I may want a half-inch to an inch of negative ease. I’m going to wait on that decision until I’ve worn them a few times.
Somehow I made the pattern too long. I don’t think I’ll bother to change that, better to err on the side of too much length than too little.
I’d like to add single-welt pockets to the back. I’ve never made them before and am dying to try the technique. I actually could still add them to these pants.
The top-stitching length gets shorter the more layers I went over. I think I’ll need to lengthen the stitch in thicker areas so it all looks the same. I also think I should use a longer top-stitch length overall.

And here are the pants on me, with the blouse I most recently finished (and a new pair of shoes).

The finished pants.

I don’t normally wear blouses tucked in, so here’s how I wore the pants on my recent visit to the Legion of Honor Museum.

Simplicity 3688 and Butterick 5846.

The blouse is in a quilting cotton whose print I couldn’t resist, so it doesn’t drape well, but next up is the same blouse in an adorable bicycle-print blouse-weight fabric.

And here are the pants on me a few days later, with a knit top, cardigan, and loafers. So comfortable! I’ll probably wear them like this most of the time.

Simplicity 3688. Photo by Mark the Brother.

A different way to wear the pants.

I really like the silhouette and comfort of these pants. I’m definitely going to make at least two more pairs in denim and dial in the fit before I eventually make a lined pair from the really nice navy wool crepe in my stash.

My new vintage-style blouse from Butterick’s 5846 dress pattern

Completed project November 18, 2014 Comments: 3

For my latest project, I started off with dress pattern Butterick 5846 and turned it into a blouse. I love how this blouse came out, particularly since I my last attempt at a project had a sad ending.

Here’s my new garment:

This is a quilting cotton, so it’s a little heavy for a blouse, but it’s soft. I love-love-love the colors.

And the back.

Here are some of the fun details:

The pattern calls for top-stitching all over the place, which I liked.

The vintage buttons are fun and a good match.

As a reminder, here is where I started:

I originally had this darker green thread selected for the top-stitching, but as you can see, I ended up going with a bright yellow-green instead.

How a dress became a blouse

I decided the 1930s-40s lines of Butterick 5846 would be perfect for the vintage-style fabric I found that only had enough yardage left for a blouse. I made some adjustments to the pattern to turn the dress pattern into a blouse pattern and then made a few other changes just to customize it:

I made the bodice longer. The bodice originally ended at the waist seam with a total of 12 tucks into that seam. I extended the tucks an inch (the better to hide behind a waistband) and increased the bodice length about 9 inches.
I changed the gathered sleeves to regular set-in sleeves. Gathered sleeves are not the best look on me. I liked the sleeves on New Look 0134, which I had recently made, so I wanted to substitute those. I measured the armhole sleeve seam on New Look 0134, and it was a perfect match for Butterick 5846. Once I eased them, the sleeves went in beautifully. Love them.
I made the collar a little larger to better reflect vintage styles. Vintage blouses tend to have bigger collars than today’s blouses. I made a line bisecting the point of the collar, then drew a new point an inch out from the original one. I then blended the lines into the original collar where it joined the neckline and at the shoulder. It’s a subtle change, but it gives me confidence that I can do pretty much anything I want with a collar shape.
I turned the two-piece yoke into a single yoke. I couldn’t figure out why the yoke had a seam at the shoulder — until I was tracing it to make it a single piece. If it’s done in a plaid or a stripe, the lines on the front part of the yoke will be at a weird angle. That didn’t affect this print, and I was already tracing, so I continued on and made the yoke one piece. It was a simple matter of overlapping the shoulder seamlines and tracing.

Construction changes

I still don’t want to deal with my serger (which probably only needs to be serviced), so I am all about tidy seam finishes that don’t require one. Since I practiced flat-felled seams on my recent ill-fated project, I used them all over this blouse. I love the way they look.

How slick are these flat-felled seams? They were a little tricky here at the armhole seam, but I made them work.

For the yoke, I used a technique I’ve been reading about for years but had not had the opportunity to try. The yoke is sewn entirely by machine and then turned out. The trick is rolling up the bodice pieces before you sew. Style Arc’s website has a great explanation of the technique here. The top-stitching on the yoke is strictly decorative.

And here it is on me!

My new blouse. Photos by Matt Henry, the 10-year-old.

The back.

I am so happy with this blouse that I eventually want to make a long-sleeve version with a white collar and cuffs. And I have the perfect fabrics in my stash. Until I find something else I like, this will be my go-to blouse pattern. It’s already fitted, so the sewing is quick.

Meanwhile, I have this fab blouse and nothing vintage-style to wear with it. But I’m trying to take care of that with my next project. A muslin is underway and going well so far. I’m thinking dark blue denim.

Gemini Note (because it’s not all about the sewing)

After an amazing start, and a horrifying June Swoon, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series for the third time in five years. As much as I love sewing while watching baseball games (three hours of multi-tasking!), I canNOT sew during playoffs. Not with the way the Giants play. I’m too busy clutching a pillow. I’m so glad the season is finally over. My nerves couldn’t take much more, and I have lots of sewing to do!

Mood board: A blouse from Butterick’s 5846 dress pattern

Mood board November 14, 2014 Comments: 4

I fell in love with a pretty blue and green print from DS Quilts in the quilt fabric section of Jo-Ann’s a few months ago. I was disappointed to discover that there wasn’t enough yardage left for a dress.

Several weeks later, it occurred to me to make a blouse instead. Fortunately, the fabric was still available. And since I’d successfully made a beautiful teal and navy shirtdress from Butterick 5846, I decided it would be the perfect pattern.

The bodice lines are very reminiscent of blouses from the 1930s and 1940s, so I think it will be a good match for the vintage-looking print. Here’s the mood board:

How adorable is this fabric? The navy blue buttons are vintage. The olive green thread is for top-stitching.

The fabric is a little heavy but nice and soft. It’s not ideal for a blouse, but I hope it will be OK. And since I’ve already fit the pattern, it should be a quick project.