new to me: thread theory

Me Made May had me thinking about what I need in my wardrobe – longer sleeved shirts suitable for work.  The Camas blouse by Thread Theory Designs is similar to one of my  ready to wear rayon shirts that I was keen to emulate.  I haven’t tried their patterns before as they are all menswear (No, I haven’t sewn for Mr S&S, but I like the look of their Newcastle cardigan).  This fits the category for the first week of independent pattern month – a ‘new to me’ pattern company.

I liked that the PDF had an A0 copyshop option – No taping or tracing.  I followed the instructions on my laptop, switching between them and the sewalong posts.  The pattern is designed for knits but the sewalong has a post for using woven fabric and I found the  Stitch 56 post about Jo’s silk version helped too.  My main consideration was to use a narrower seam allowance on the sleeve seams.

The pattern features front and back yokes, and a separate placket, offering lots of options to mix and match fabrics.  I decided not to use my plain contrast on the yokes but after sewing on the placket I thought of using it again by adding in sleeve hem bands.  The neckline is generous so the buttons on the placket don’t need to be functional, I skipped the buttonholes.

I picked my size by comparing the pattern to the shoulders on my RTW shirt.  That shirt seemed to be less blousier in the back and has a box pleat on the yoke so I decided to take out 2 inches in the back width and turn the gathers into a box pleat.  It’s still quite blousy in the back.

There is not much I don’t like about the pattern (the neckline is a little low and wide) and I wonder how different it would be to wear or sew up in a knit or in knit with woven yokes, so I might be giving that a go in the future.

With the shorter days here at the moment I’m limited to weekends for photos.  Yesterday was a ‘weather event’ with record downfalls and localised flooding. Today was sunny and so windy.  I originally had my eye on this feature wall for my pics, but had to retreat around the corner where the sun was not shining in my eyes and it was less windy!

 

Project summary

pattern:  Thread Theory Camas blouse

fabric: printed rayon from Etsy seller Indian Stores and plain chiramon rayon from Spotlight

notions: buttons from Etsy seller Busy Beaver Boutique