Joining the MAGAM challenge, created and curated by
SarahLiz, is with the hope of doing more sewing for myself. The aim of the challenge is to create a
garment for you each month within a theme. The theme is broad enough that it can be adapted to personal
needs, ideas or desires. January’s
theme was “Just Try Something New” very easy isn’t it?
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| Image from McCalls website. |
I decided that I need shirts, or is it blouses? So using a
pattern long in the stash but new to me that I love the look of, I made a
blouse. McCalls 6286 has always
attracted me – the raglan sleeves and the wider collar framing the face would
perhaps flatter my short neck. I
paired it with a mystery fabric from the huge Trademe fabric haul a few years
back.
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| Image from http://sewing.patternreview.com/Patterns/44600 |
Burn tests (thanks Chris for the help and link) show that it
is probably cotton with maybe some rayon.
It burns to a dark powder that smells faintly of burning paper but also
has a finish that leaves a slightly oily residue. It feels and looks more like silk shantung with a shine and
texture running through it. It is very nice to the touch and against the
skin.
I like that the pattern has the Finished Garment
Measurements on the envelope back and I decided to make a size 20 with a
finished bust of 46 1/2” grading out to 22 at the hips with a finished width at
the lower edge of 50 1/2”. This
ultimately proved to be a little close fitting at the bust and measurement of a
blouse in the cupboard shows that I am more comfortable with a bust measurement
of 50”. This I should have done before making DUH!
Making up the blouse was straight forward until the collar;
reviews of the blouse mentioned the difficulty with iron on interfacing so I
cut out these in silk organza.
This was a great decision and worked a treat until I tried topstitching
the collar. I found the way the
collar is assembled and the front facing attachment a little perplexing and
made a bit of a botch which was fixed by hand sewing the exposed seam down. One side of the collar and lapel lies
flat against the body and looks good; sadly I cannot say the same about the
other. It wants to flip over and
stands proud, I think it is a grain issue forced when I decided to top stitch
(pattern does not topstitch) any suggestions on how to fix this for next time
would be gratefully received.
Trying on the blouse shows that it fits well across the back
with the darts in place, the side seams are straight but the CF pulls which
indicates not enough fabric to cover the girls. My question is, should I go up a size for the bust (22) or
do a FBA? I am little intimidated
by the double darts regarding a FBA and would love to have some feedback about
what I should do.
I will definitely be making this pattern up again and in the
same fabric.
