Sewaholic | Jeanne Marie’s Sewing Studio

Sewaholic’s Belcarra Blouse is a winner

Completed project August 15, 2014 Comments: 2

After all the alterations (I needed to do two muslins of the front bodice piece), I cut and sewed Sewaholic’s Belcarra Blouse in a day.

I love it!

Here’s the completed top on Gene:

Simple lines and easy to make. A great basic top.

It’s an easy-to-sew top that has nice details and is very comfortable. I was hoping I could substitute tops made from Belcarra for the cheap knit Target tops I buy every year, and I think I can.

But the sewing wasn’t smooth sailing all the way through.

The neckline is finished with a bias band that is folded wrong sides together the long way, then sewn to the right side of the neckline, flipped to the wrong side and sewed down. Somehow, I REALLY goofed this up. The band piece ends up 1-inch wide when folded, and you’re supposed to use a 5/8-inch seam allowance. That would leave a 3/8-inch flap to turn to the wrong side all the way around. I used my 5/8-seam allowance pressure foot and still ended up with an uneven flap. It varied from 3/8 of an inch to 1/8 of an inch. Rather than rip it out and start again, I trimmed the seam allowance close, folded the flap to the wrong side, and used a decorative topstitch on the right side that would be sure to anchor the flap down no matter what the width.

It looked OK.

Until I attached the sleeve bands. Here’s how one looks:

The pattern refers to this as a cuff, but I’d call it a band. The fabric is more interesting up close. You can really see the detail of the fluffy pindots here.

The bands looked so clean and nice that I decided I hated the topstitching. HATED IT.

So I ripped out all the topstitching and attempted to rip out the neck band seam. Well, I had trimmed the seam allowance so close that I was just ripping the edge of the neckline.

So I cut it all off as close as I could. Ugh.

I had some single-fold bias tape in my stash, and I’ve always liked the clean look that makes when used on a casual neckline, so I sewed right sides together, flipped it to the wrong side and sewed it down. Here it is, inside and out:

This looks SO much better than the topstitch I had before.

Nice and tidy inside.

Clean and pretty. And still done in a day.

Eliminating the neck band would reduce the fabric needed by a decent amount, so I may skip it in the future and just use bias tape. Or, I might see if I can actually execute the neck band properly. I think I’d take a smaller seam allowance next time.

Here’s the completed top on me:

It’s very comfortable, and I’m happy the fluffy dots are straight across the fabric. The dart looks a little droopy. I think that’s because it’s a smidge too low. Perhaps I should press my darts up instead of down. (Photo by teenage daughter Maddie.)

As well as this fits, I will make a few adjustments next time around:

I’ll raise the darts another 1/2 inch.
I’ll lengthen the top 1 inch so I can do a more substantial 1 1/4-inch hem instead of a 5/8-inch double fold hem.
I’ll straighten the side seams. I don’t need hip room. At all.

With these adjustments, I’ll have a perfect top that sews up quick. I’ll keep it in mind for any nice cottons I see at Jo-Ann’s. I’ll be looking to the great Belcarra Blouses I saw on Sewaholic’s site (I particularly like the ones in eyelet) for inspiration on other ways to use this pattern.

It’s so satisfying to sew up a quick project here and there. Now I want to make a full denim or chambray skirt to wear with this top.

Full-bust adjustment on Sewaholic Belcarra Blouse

Construction update, Fitting issues July 20, 2014 Leave a comment

The Sewaholic line of patterns is specifically designed to fit and flatter pear-shaped woman.

I am pretty much the opposite of a pear-shaped woman.

My bust is my largest measurement, then my hips, with my waist not much smaller.

But the great results a variety of women are getting from the Belcarra Blouse pattern looked too good to resist, so I jumped in the fray.

Then came the pattern adjustments.

I started by making a muslin of the pattern as it was. It seemed to fit everywhere but the bust. Here is the result, after some slashing to accommodate my figure:

I marked my bust point, then made slashes typical of full-bust adjustments, so I could see how much room to add.

Obviously, I had work to do on the pattern. I made a typical full-bust adjustment, so the front bodice pattern looked like this:

Here you can see the full bust adjustment. Width is added across the bust, length is added to the center front, and a dart is added to the side.

For a typical full bust adjustment, width is added across the bust, length is added to the center front, and a dart is added to the side.

After trying that on, I realized that the bust point needed to be raised. I guess this is pretty common. The way the full-bust adjustment is done ends up creating a dart that does NOT point toward the apex of the bust. You often have to move it, but it’s impossible to know exactly how much to move it until you’ve done the adjustment. From this pattern alteration, I cut a new front bodice piece and replaced the slashed one.

As you can see, the muslin fits Gene much better, but the bust dart needed to be adjusted and the hips are way too wide.

As you can see, the muslin fits Gene much better. However, the bust dart needed to be adjusted and the hips are way too wide. I have them pinned in an inch on each side, for a total of four inches.

To accommodate these changes, I altered the pattern again.

Here, I raised the bust point, then narrowed the hips. I almost made them straight but settled on a gentle curve.

Now, I think I’m ready to cut out my fashion fabric.

Taking a simple blouse pattern made for a pear and altering it for an apple is a lot of effort, but I think it’s going to be worth it. I had forgotten how nicely raglan sleeves sit on my shoulders, and this is a quick basic pattern. Once I have this pattern perfected, I can sew up a bunch of these basic tops. I’m hoping they will make a good substitute for the cheap knit tops I always buy at Target.

Sewaholic’s Belcarra Blouse mood board

Mood board July 11, 2014 Leave a comment

After seeing all the pretty Belcarra Blouse photos on the Sewaholic website, I had to jump into the fray.

The Belcarra Blouse is a great basic top with raglan sleeves and a scoop neck that looks like it flatters a variety of figures. It’s available as a PDF for immediate download, which makes it a perfect impulse purchase.

Here’s the mood board:

The maybe gray, maybe blue fabric has raised pin dots.

I’m planning to make Version A. Here’s a better look at the line drawing.

Here's a closeup of the line drawing for the Belcarra Blouse.

View A of the Belcarra Blouse.

Alas, I didn’t have anything appropriate in my stash, so I had to go to Jo-Ann’s for fabric. (I ended up also buying some yellow Linen Look for a future project. Fabric stores are dangerous.)

Here’s a closeup of the unusual dots.

In this closeup, you can see how the pin dots are raised and fluffy.

As you can see, the pin dots are raised and kind of fluffy.

This is the first time I will be working with a PDF pattern. When you order one, you immediately receive a link to a PDF file to download. The PDF file is set up to print on regular letter paper, but you have to trim the pages and tape them together so you have whole pattern pieces. (It took me three tries with the test page to get my printer settings correct. This is only because I wasn’t paying enough attention.) In the case of the Belcarra Blouse, printing out View A meant taping together 25 pieces of paper to make one giant sheet with all the pattern pieces.

Here’s what the pieces looked like on my dining table before I taped them together.

The lines matched beautiful for the first couple of rows, but the further along I went, the more my lines ended up off by the tiniest of smidges. It shouldn’t affect the project at all. I imagine this would be pretty tedious for a full dress pattern.

I’m going to have to make a full-bust adjustment, as usual, so I was very happy to find an FBA tutorial for this blouse on the Sewaholic website. Handy. I’ll make a muslin of the pattern as is, then see how much I need to adjust for the FBA.

It will be fun to work on a quick project for a change. If I like the way this turns out, I’m going to want to do a long full denim skirt to go with it. There’s always more to sew.