Vogue 1291: bat wing shirt in silk

I realize I have been a bit behind in my blogging! There are several items/outfits that I have not blogged and will probably just do a quick recap blog of them. Mostly so that I can keep track of what I have made!

In my closet I have 2 tops that are quite old that I have been wanting to replicate. Both are made from chiffon, poly chiffon I believe and both are oversized with a blouson effect. I have really been wanting to add some of these to my wardrobe. 

Vogue 1291 was a pattern that caught my eye as a great contender. It is an oversized loose top that is supposed to be tighter at the hips to have blouson effect. 

I had several issues with this pattern right from the start. The recommended fabrics are both knit and woven yet the pattern sizing is clearly for a stretch knit.... Beware when you make this top and take careful flat pattern measurements! 

I was going to make a muslin but realized that regular muslin fabric just would not be a good idea due to no drape. So instead, I used the yellow butterfly print silk charmeuse that I got from Fabricmart.com on a super sale. 

I started off with very careful flat pattern measurements and made an adjustment for the hip. I needed to add width at this area when compared to the rest of the pattern size. 

I followed the directions carefully and they were quite simply to follow. Attaching the back sleeve overlay could be tricky if you don't pay close attention. I skipped the step of finishing the neck until the end because I had a feeling that I was going to need to cut it down. Once it came to the side seams I just basted them with a 5.0 stitch length and tried the top on. At this point, armed with pins and my hand mirror, I stood in front of my full length mirror and pinned in the side seams and where I thought I would like the new neckline to be. For all the seams I used a 2.5 stitch length and then serge finished the seams together to reduce any bulk. All of the hems were done on my regular machine using the small hemmer foot. This mostly worked out great! I had one or two spots that the 'roll' did not roll under but I'm not worried about it. The neckline is a narrow bias band. 

With these marks I went back to my work table and made some changes. I left the hip where I originally basted it. However, from there up and along the bottom of the 2 part sleeve I took off an additional 5/8". There just seemed to be too much fabric!

Using my French curve, I redrew the neckline about 3 1/2 inches lower. It made a big difference! I felt that there was just too much yellow fabric and that it was overwhelming me. The lowered neckline helps. I also think that making this in a chiffon would make a big difference where you can actually see the silhouette of the body through the fabric woud be a better choice.

Imagine this neckline way up high.... Ugh.

All that said, there is something about this top that quickly grew on me. Even my husband felt that as he took my photos that the top grew on him. Ten top felt great out of this lightweight charmeuse and will be lovely to wear on a hot day. Nice and cool but still plenty covered up.

I will probably have to wear a light camisole under this because if you hold your arm out just right you can see right in. It would not be an often occurrence but, knowing me it will happen at the worst possible time!!!! LOL!!

Will I make this again?

Possibly.....

In a woven

- maybe add an elastic casing to better keep the blouson effect OR make a separate hip pattern piece out of a coordinating knit fabric.

- definitely out of a chiffon! 

In a knit it would need to be a very light knit or it will just be too much fabric sitting on the body.

My sewing work table is chocked full of projects :) mostly stuff to enhance my work wardrobe. 

Here is my happy granddaughter, Princess V, learning to pick up and eat food. She has 2 little front teeth now. :)