Red Mimi blouse by Tilly and the Buttons

Hahaha, this is embarrassing, but it took me over a YEAR to complete my first project from book “Love at first stitch” by Tilly and the Buttons.  In the book Tilly is wearing a beautiful blouse that I decided I have to have in my wardrobe….not at all an impulse buy?!

I had a real envy moment over this red number, which I wanted to recreate.

I purchased this beautiful woven satin fabric from Stoff and Stil that currently is on sale for only £3.50 per meter! I only got 150cm as I did shorten the pattern substantially. I must say it was a dream to sew and will order more of this type of fabric again.

Mimi is a loose fitting blouse with some gathering above the bust to give it a shaping, so I thought it would be best to look at final measurements to establish which size is best for me. My bust circumstances is 113cm so this puts me just about at size 8, but that would give me 16 cm of ease, which is far to much for my liking. For that reason I chose to grade between size 6 and 7.

Pattern alterations

I had to raise the neckline by 15mm because it was too low on me and you could see everything if I bend. At the same time had to adjust collar too, as the neckline  curve decreased.

The pattern have a slight waist shaping, so I had to move the waist up by 3cm. At the same time I had redraw the hemline on the front and back and gave it some curve. This shortened the pattern another 2/3 cm. To ensure facing pieces align with front and back I had to re-draft them slightly.

I really like sleeve style on this pattern, but being petite I didn’t want them to be too long, so I cut the length again by 35mm. I had to fold the pleats first to ensure accurate hem line. Next, I shaved off shoulder seam about 5mm, because it was tiny bit too long and a didn’t want my sleeve gathers to hang badly.

Cutting fabric

The pattern fabric requirement calls for 2 meters, but I knew I can get away with less due to changes I had made to most pattern pieces.

Once I prepped the fabric and lay all the pattern pieces down I had realized that if I’m clever I can also squeeze another Ogden Cami…..and you know this is exactly what I had done if you check my previous post.  In the moment of madness I search through my scraps and fabric stash to see if there is anything that would go well with my lovely fabric…and guess what?!? I found some white cotton scraps that was enough to make collar, covered buttons and sleeve band. I also used the same fabric as facing for Ogden Cami, which I am very pleased about.

It took me about an hour to cut out all pieces for both Mimi blouse and Ogden Cami and from them it is all plain sailing.

Sewing

Making Mimi is very straightforward.  The most tricky part for someone new to sewing could be assembling the collar or making even gathers. But if you follow the instruction in the book you will find that it isn’t as difficult as may seem.

For this version of Mimi I thought it would look great if I add some white piping. I had ready made bias binding and some cord at home, so I went and done my own piping. As the cord was quiet big my piping is quiet noticeable, but next time I would prefer it to be a bit smaller.

It took me 5 hours and 55 mins to complete this blouse. This includes sewing, cutting and applying interfacing and ironing. If you want to do a fabric covered buttons you will need to add some extra time. I covered 6 buttons of 15mm in the space of 40 mins….longer then I expected, but maybe it was because I was watching a movie at the time hihihi who knows. Anyway, it is worth every minute I spend As the outcome is exactly what I wanted!

I used a loop to hold in place front and back lining to allow more movement. It is great if you prefer not to sew it in place like most pattern instruction would advise.

Final thoughts

Over all, this is exactly what I wanted! Why did I wait so long to make it?? Tell me why!? All my adjustment paid off, so it was a good decision to down size this pattern, however there was a slight tightness over the bust area, which will be resolved next time with full bust adjustment.  This time I reduced the seam allowance while attaching sleeves, which gave me all the ease I needed!

I wore it already on a sunny day and must say it is perfect! I will for sure make more in the future.

~ have you ever added piping to your project?~

Monika xxx