Monday, June 23, 2014

Long overdue Meissas

I made these Papercut Meissa blouses waaaay back before Easter and took pictures of them a few weeks later. And then they just sat in my blog folder, neglected as I frantically prepared for Me Made May. So, considering the fact that I haven't made anything of note besides a turd of a Darling Ranges dress (such a bummer) because all I do is study for anatomy, these will work perfectly!

The first version I made is chambray, and those of you who followed me during MMMay know I wear the shit out of this one. The fabric is so comfortable, and I love the little feminine yoke details.



Those double buttons are super great too, I get tons of compliments on them! I'm really really happy with the fit of this shirt. I think the pattern has a little shaping at the waist, but if I remember correctly I made it more dramatic. My waist tends to drown in almost everything unless I add some curves. While I do love the loose, bohemian style, dressing in a flat sack is not my cup of tea.


The fun yokes gave my edgestitch foot its first real run, just look at that sparkling topstitching! I believe this was the first or second shirt I made after I purchased (and got over my fear of using) my Bernina.  The Peter Pan collar is really nice as well, but I can say with 100% confidence that I will never wear the shirt buttoned all the way up like the pattern model.


 My biggest gripe with this shirt are the plackets. Or lack thereof. Instead of a vertical placket they have you do a horizontal one (I think that's what it's called). The instructions didn't really help me a lot, and it's pretty fiddly. Basically the cuffs are an inch too short, and you turn under the gap twice and topstitch. Or in my case you try, fail, and say f it and let it fray because the cuffs cut off the circulation in your arms anyways. These sleeves are very slim cut. As in, I can't push my sleeves half way up my forearm even with the buttons undone.


I made my second version out of a quilting cotton... and while I don't hate it, I don't reach for it like my chambray version. I did make the cuffs longer and make a vertical placket, but I didn't widen the sleeve so it's still pretty tight. I can almost get the cuffs pushed up to my elbows, but not quite! 


I wish I would have cut the yokes on the bias or cross grain or something, but I was just barely able to squeak this out of the 2 yards I ordered. The inner cuffs are cut on the selvedge, and you can totally see the part that says "Blah blah blah made for Art Gallery Fabrics" when I turn the cuffs out! Whoops. I had a ton of the chambray left after making the shirt, but 45" < 58" and I should have known better.



This version is definitely a little looser, which is probably why I don't wear it as much. I think the print is also a little boring for me. There's too much white, which means it shows dirt much too easy to be worn at work. Or at the farm, for that matter!

I'm trying to make up my mind if a popover version of this would be cute. I can't decide if it would be too much with the front yokes and the peter pan collar. What do you guys think? I have some really nice purple chambray that is just screaming at me to become a button down!

12 comments:

  1. Love them, I've never seen this pattern before. I'll have to look for it :-) The double buttons are great!

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  2. Cute! I think they both look really nice on you :)

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  3. These look great! I especially love the look of the chambray one - it will go with everything! It's too bad about the sleeves being so tight, but I assume that would be easy to fix if you decided to make another one. I'm not sure what a horizontal placket is though... I've always made vertical ones. So much to learn!

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  4. Thank you. I sometimes feel self conscious when I wear the chambray one with blue jeans, I feel a little Canadian tuxedo-y!

    I ended up making a purple popover version last weekend, and just said screw it and didn't even both with full-length sleeves or cuffs. The sleeves come about to my elbow and are just folded over twice and topstitched. Much easier, and I always wear my sleeves above my elbows anyways. Win win!

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  5. These look so good! Might have to get a bit more adventurous and try to make a shirt!
    Etta
    x

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  6. Thanks! Shirts are really not so bad once you get into it!

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  7. I really like the yoke on this. You are like my shirting guru/inspiration! I am still in awe of the Kaufman chambray shirt you wore yesterday.

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  8. Thanks! I make a lot of shirts, but I wear mostly shirts so it works out well!

    P.S. fabric.com totally has the dot chambray in stock! https://www.fabric.com/buy/0364105/kaufman-chambray-union-dots-indigo

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  9. Lovely! I love the color of chambray you used! Do you remember the name/brand? Thanks!

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  10. I actually believe it was just some chambray I picked up at Joann a year or so ago!

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