MariaDenmark Edith Blouse
There are quite a few perks of running PatternReview, the most rewarding being meeting and getting to know some of the nicest people on the planet. And also being able to call them friends. Maria (MariaDenmark) and I have known each other for about more than 5 years now and in this time I’ve gotten to know her not only as an amazing person but also as an extremely talented and hardworking sewing professional. I am meeting her again in London in a week and looking forward to it. The blouse above is her pattern Edith which fits me as if it was made for me. Without any alterations! I trust Maria that much that I didn’t even make a muslin 🙂 And she didn’t disappoint.
My London trip is actually a long overdue celebration of my 40th birthday with two of my best friends from high-school. One (Sumita) lives in London and the other (Jugnu)  is flying all the way from India for this. When Sumita visited me last year in States, she brought many cuts of liberty (yes many!) for me and now she has given me the ultimatum that I need to sew them up before my trip. While the above pictured fabric is not from her gift package, it is my FIRST ever Liberty purchase – in Paris –  4 years ago.
I have this thing of buying only one fabric wherever I go. It allows me to keep my stash in control (yeah right!) and more importantly it takes me back to the place whenever I sew it and wear it. That’s what this blouse does for me. So thank you Sumita for giving me the nudge to sew with Liberty. Now instead of just admiring it in my stash, I can enjoy wearing it.
Seriously people, even if you don’t like liberty prints (why?) sew with it for the fabric. It is buttery, silky and smooth. It is silk like with the convenience of cotton. Did I get that right?
Now back to the Blouse… I only had one meter of fabric to work with so the only way I could fit all the pieces was to cut the front facing cross-grain. Thankfully the print wasn’t directional otherwise it would not have worked. Note to self : If you’re buying only one fabric, buy at-least 2 freaking yards!
The construction is very simple without any surprises so there is nothing to add there. I love the shape of the collar so much! Its so soft and feminine. I took my time in pressing it and getting it just right.
The Fit is fantastic right out of the envelope. I ended up letting the side seams out just a little but now that I am looking at it, I didn’t need to. The sleeve hem is the only thing I would change when I sew this again. I will finish it with a bias facing instead of folding it under. Its not very evident in the photos but there are some ugly gathers there because of the extreme curve. But I do love the shape of the kimono sleeve.
For the buttons, I tried blue and red but in the end decided to go with the basic off white buttons and sewed them on with contrasting thread for some visual interest.
I was pretty impressed with the lovely buttonholes my Bernina made! No issues there. But then again I must have tested 10 buttonholes before finally making them on the blouse. Speaking of the buttonholes, is there a rule how far or close they should be to the edge of the blouse? I just winged it but feel they are too far. Oh well….
Check out the back! How nice right? I have no idea what’s going on with the right shoulder, but I am going to ignore it 🙂
The side seam shaping is so lovely. Just the right amount of ease. I think I might round off the hem next time.
Ok now comes my favorite feature of this blouse. It can be worn tucked in or out. I finally have a woven top for my circle skirts! I have a red Hollyburn in progress right now but how perfect is this ponte half-circle skirt with this top? Truth be told, this top got on my radar when I saw Heather wearing it with her skirt. Doesn’t she look lovely in it?
Well that’s it for now. If you haven’t already bought this pattern, you can buy it on PatternReview.com here or directly from Maria at MariaDenmark.
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