This is my classic white blouse:
I absolutely love it. The silk taffeta was great to work with (though really tough material--hand hemming required the trusty thimble!). Here's a view of the shirt front:
And the back:
One of my favorite things about this pattern is the gathering on both the front and back as well as the pleats at the bottom. It really looks best with high-waisted trousers (in fact the final blouse length and the pleats make it more difficult to wear with normal waisted trousers).
I finally feel fairly confident doing topstitching! Here's a photo from the front:
I also hand stitched the sleeve cuffs onto the sleeve. This was a pain because the material is quite tough. When I went back to the directions, it said to topstitch--oops! Ah well, I think the extra effort was worth it (because I'm sure with all the gathered fullness my topstitching would have been wonky!):
Also, instead of snap buttons, I used cuff links. This is because I have small wrists and actually like my blouses to be quite fitted on my wrists. Cuff links are perfect (and I can change them in and out) and it only requires two buttonholes on either side (instead of a fiddly snap--which I hate doing because I never line them up perfectly!)
I have to say that one of the greatest things about sewing is getting a garment to fit your body perfectly. One of my biggest problems with blouses is the long-sleeves tend to run slightly short on me. Now I can lengthen the sleeves--so it's just right.
And I'm happy to say that the Peacock chairs came to our new place (our only piece of furniture we kept):
Check out more photos on the Sewing Through the Decades Challenge flickr group (and post your photos!)
Also, don't forget to leave a comment to be entered in the pattern giveaway. It's open until midnight UK time and I'll be choosing and posting the winners tomorrow!
