Project 22: The Colette Sencha blouse

Two for two on my fall sewing goals!  Woo!  Unfortunately, something tells me I'll miss my Minoru jacket deadline, but you know what?  I'm going to stay optimistic and hope that the fabric and pattern land on my doorstep this month.  I've stopped buying fabric for the time being because I want an iPhone November 1 (when I'm eligible for an upgrade) and I don't want to eat ketchup packets because I can't afford real food.  So far, I'm doing okay.  I went to Joann's today (and saved crazy amounts of money) and didn't come home with a single cut of fabric.  However, I came home with thread, stabilizer, batting, and rotary blades instead.  This may not excite you, but damn, it gets me all wound up!

Okay, on to the pattern review.  But first, a question: if you haven't made a Sencha yet, well, why not?

Pattern description
Button-back blouse with cap sleeves and waist tucks

Pattern sizing
0-18.  This is a 6, as the size 8 (my usual Colette top size) would've been too loose.

Did it look like the drawing on the envelope when you were done with it?
Yes! (I always consider that a success.)

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Oh my gosh, yes.  This shirt went from start to finish in about 2.5 hours.  I bought buttons today--that was the only thing holding me back from completing it Friday night.  

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

As happy as I am with the outcome, and the fact that it was a quick sew, I do have a couple things I'd alter:

• When I have it on (see below), there's a lot of extra fabric between my armpits and my bust.  I'm going to guess this is because I have such narrow shoulders.  I should look into working on that.
• It's very short!  I have a short torso and normally everything is too long on me, but I'll need a camisole under this to wear it to work.

I can't wait until I have a house where I can actually take pictures of myself.  This is BS.  Also this photo makes me look so hippy.

Fabric used

Woven in Poppy from Lotta Jansdotter's Bella line.  I originally bought this with a Macaron in mind, but I really like it as a Sencha.

Pattern design changes or alterations made

Very minor ones: I didn't catchstitch the inside of the sleeves or the back placket.  For the back, I decided the buttonholes and buttons would keep the placket in place, and on the sleeves, I topstitched the edges.

Would you sew it again?

I might!  I'd like to try the other necklines, with the tucks or the tie.  Maybe in a fancier fabric, though.

Conclusion

I think this is a great fall blouse!  Yay orange!

Yesterday we had big plans to go to a pig roast in Palmyra celebrating the new By Hand magazine.  Well, that failed after we sat in traffic on I-95 for what seemed like forever.  Please tell me why we live in a region with rush hour on the weekend.  Okay, turn around, get back on I-95 north--we decided to head to Sur La Table and Total Wine, and then up to Frederick to check out the area.  Neither of us had been, except to drive through on our way to Ohio.  It's such a pretty drive up I-270: once you're in Frederick County, the mountains come into view, and at this time of year everything is red, yellow and orange.

Downtown Frederick is a cute area with a sweet downtown.  I mean, first you have to drive through the ghetto to get there, but once you're there, you're fine.  We stopped in a record store and walked through the main strip, and tried to get dinner at Brewer's Alley but they had other ideas: our wait was over twice as long as they originally estimated and when we told them we were leaving, they weren't the most sympathetic.  By that point, I had been hungry for five hours, so we drowned our hunger sorrows in Five Guys.  Thank god for French fries.

Today has been busy: besides the aforementioned trip to Joann's, I also went grocery shopping and have been baking like a crazy person all afternoon.  I have a potluck tomorrow at work and offered to bring the desserts.  See below: doughnut cake (thanks to my oven being uneven, it got a bit too brown) (also I don't have a cake tester, which explains the knife mark!) and chai tea cookies, and I just pulled some pumpkin bread out of the oven.  Isn't fall the best?

Have a good week, everyone.  Hopefully I won't be a stranger as much soon!