The Adrienne blouse from the Friday Pattern Company has been quite visible on Instagram, and I have to confess that I was doing my best to ignore it until my friend Hélène (https://www.instagram.com/hportemanteau/) motivated me to make it.
I used some fabric that I had found in the op shop – 4 metres for $2, but I could not tell what the fibre content is. I did a burn test which showed some polyester-like fibres, but it burned quite fiercely so I didn’t think it was cotton. Then I saw that curious_fi on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/curious__fi/) had some of the same fabric so I asked her. She did some investigating (aren’t people wonderful?) and came back with the composition of 80% polyester, 17% rayon and 3% spandex. I am so surprised as it doesn’t burn like a lot of polyester – no hard ball of plastic, but the rayon content probably explains the fierce burning. Anyway, I now know the answer~
I made a lot of mistakes with this one, the first being that I thought it would be fun to add a pocket. I took several in progress shots and then managed to delete them, so I can only show you the final pocket.
To make this pocket I drew a circle, cut it at about the 2/3rd 1/3rd mark, and added a straight piece of 2cms on each side. I interfaced the straight piece and tucked it under, topstitching it down. I then sewed each side, butted up together, on the front, reverse coverstitching the edge down. Then I didn’t like it, but I had already discovered that this fabric did not enjoy being unpicked. At all. So I left it, but it’s pretty useless.
I made my size but this fabric is quite firm so the top is rather fitted. I wouldn’t mind this so much if it weren’t for that darned pocket.
When I was making this top I looked at the elastic requirements and it stated 19cm for the shoulders and 27cm for the sleeves. I had one of those moments! My wrists are 17.5cm and 27cm seemed really excessive, so I decided that the pattern was wrong and the numbers were transposed. I put the long pieces of elastic in the shoulders and the short pieces in the sleeve cuffs. May I just say that it didn’t end well?! I couldn’t even get the sleeves on over my hands! Luckily the unpicking on the shoulders wasn’t too bad and I was able to reduce the length of the elastic easily thereby reversing my stupidity. However, I found it impossible to unpick the sleeves, so I simply cut the bottoms off, added a 6cm band to each sleeve and threaded through the correct length of elastic. This worked out pretty well as it made the sleeves a little longer which I like.
I think that the fit is good, and love the neckline and the sleeves.
My next problem was what to wear with this top. It would look great tucked in with a belt, but that pocket is a problem. Anyway, it looks fine with my self drafted denim skirt and I know I will get a lot of wear from this as the weather cools down, although I’m not sure if it will find its way into my suitcase for our holiday.
…and here I am stretching that pocket out! I have to say here that I really like this top – it’s different from the run of the mill tops and I am keen to make another one, perhaps from some silk jersey.
I was rather thrilled that this outfit looks ok with my old Missoni platforms as (a) they are yellow; and (b) I don’t wear them enough!