sheer caramel

You know that blouse I was telling you about in the last post? The one I said I got excited about wearing every time I thought about it?

Here it is!

(excuse the terrible lighting, please. my photo-taking ops are limited)

See, I really did get right back in that sewing room and work on it, just like I said I would.

I LOVE IT!

It took ages, because there was a lot of hand sewing involved - on the placket, the cuffs, the collar. Normally, when the blouse fabric isn't sheer, the reverse sides of cuffs and the like don't get such a clean finish. I usually just sew the band on as one piece, and serge off the edge. Structurally sound, and nobody sees it. But this, I had to fold under and stitch in place, to maintain the look of the sheer fabric banded by satin.
The satin is heavy enough that I could have done without the interfacing, I think.

Sadly, I already had to mend this. The left side seam shredded itself at some point during the day, and I ran right home and patched it up. This sheer fabric can be delicate sometimes.
(I say "patched" because that's what I actually did - used a scrap of the fabric to patch over the frayed section, and then sewed that into the side seam. Really the best idea when you have a fabric that tends to fray, because sewing it back up, which generally means your seam is deeper than before, therefore making your blouse slightly smaller, it's just gonna rip itself out again.)

Pattern is NL6621 (discontinued)

 

I think this will require hand-washing. Not a huge deal, but it might mean I wear this less often.

 

Also, I think I need some reddish-pink pants to wear with it. The beige look okay, if a little boring. I went out looking for fabric, but so far, nothing that's just the right color, except some faux-suede, which seems totally wrong, since this blouse weighs practically nothing. (The collar weighs more than all the rest of it put together.)

 

It's perfect for the hot weather we've been having this summer. And I feel like it's a flattering silhouette for me.

 

I have plans to use this sleeve on another blouse, so I was doubly motivated to get this done. I needed to know if I really do like this sleeve before subbing it in.