Nina Lee Bakerloo Blouse

Hello! I didn’t mean to go so long without posting again! I haven’t been doing too much sewing for myself these days but I’m hoping to change that soon. Whenever I had some time to sew, I felt so indecisive about my choices and would end up not making anything. Last week, I saw a Nina Lee Bakerloo blouse (I_seam_sew_happy_xx leopard one to be exact!) and I felt so inspired. Before I knew it I was taping together a Pdf pattern and digging through my fabric stash. I haven’t been so excited about a make probably since my last post in August.

The Bakerloo blouse has an amazing large collar with ruffle trim. I made the long sleeve blouse but there’s also a short sleeve and a dress version. It’s no secret that I love collars and ruffles!

For fabric, I used a Rifle Paper Co rayon from the new Strawberry Fields collection. It’s absolutely beautiful. I loved it so much, I also purchased it in the white color way. It also comes with a blush background. I thought I was going to make a simple dress with it but I find myself wearing jeans more and more lately so a blouse will get plenty of wear.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough fabric. I always forget how narrow the Rifle Paper Co rayons are (44”) and I should always order more than I think I’ll need. The pattern piece for the sleeves is quite big and I definitely wanted long sleeves. I had to shorten the pattern in length and width to make it fit on my fabric. I think it worked fine, although I do wish they were an inch longer. I also omitted the sleeve facing which would have helped. My collar ruffle was also a little short so it’s not as ruffled as it should be.

Despite these things, I absolutely love this blouse. I love it in rayon. I like how it softens the look of the large collar. I’d like to make another one day in a solid white. It was so nice to feel inspired again! Hopefully I am back soon with another make.

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Lisa Comfort Lottie Dress

I purchased Issue 3 of Lisa Comfort magazine when it came out last year because I knew I wanted to make the Lottie dress that came with it! I finally got around to it! It’s a simple button front dress with a  bias bound top/ straps. I used a cotton Rifle Paper Co fabric I’ve had in my stash and I’ve been wanting to use. I also used some buttons I picked up on my recent trip to the garment district in New York.

This would have been a pretty quick make but I had some fit issues. I graded the pattern down a size but when I tried it on after sewing on the bias tape, it was so large at the top in the front. It was completely unwearable. The easiest thing to do was to undo the bias tape on the front pieces and to add more gathers. It worked!

There’s an optional tie sash included in the pattern. I didn’t make it because I really liked how this vintage belt looks with the dress but I have plenty of fabric left over if I decide I want to make it in the future.

I haven’t decided if I’d make this pattern again. I like the style and I like how few pattern pieces there are/ how this can be a pretty quick make. It’s not the most comfortable dress for me because the straps are set a little wide for my shoulders. I think if I were to make it again, I would have to figure out how to make them more comfortable and set in more so they don’t feel like they are going to fall down.

Overall, I like how this dress turned out and I am excited to wear it on vacation next month!