New to me – Maison Fleur in memory

I was scheming trying to decide what to make for another week this month and this pattern came through from one of my pattern swaps. I blame my friends I was spending the day sewing with for making me make this up!

I couldn’t decide on what fabric to use, so asked said friends to choose one of four two of which had come from Mum’s stash when she died last June. They chose this floral cotton voile, then it kinda hit me, as well as it coming from Mum’s stash, I was making it on what would have been her birthday. It was just meant to be and this top will always be special for that reason. Hence the title.

This is the Maison Fleur 1301 summer blouse pattern. It is a PDF pattern which uses layers, just printing out the size I needed. There is some wastage with some pages just having a tiny sliver of a pattern piece. My main gripe is with the “map” which shows some of the pattern pieces on different pages. I thought I’d just need to print the second half of pages, but ended up having to print some other pages, definitely frustrating.

I went for a size 16 based on my measurements. The final blouse was just a tiny tad tight for my comfort. It looked OK, but it didn’t feel comfortable, so I let the front darts out by just under a quarter inch each side.

The blouse went together really easily. The instructions too are clear and easy to follow. The sleeves are interesting on this view. They are cut as part of the bodice, then it is gathered onto the sleeve facing. The sleeve facing is one of the strangest pieces I’ve used, it looks like a person!

The other change I mean was to move the side zip to the centre back. This works well, although I could have done with using a longer zip, since it’s not the easiest to take off and the purpose of moving the zip was to make it easier! Doh!

The details
Fabric:  A floral cotton voile from Mum’s stash, judging by the slip which was in it, it came from John Lewis, UK and she bought it June 2015.
Notions:  Thread, interfacing and a zip.
Pattern:  Maison Fleur 1301 summer blouse, view 3, size 16.
Changes made:  I took about 1/4 inch out of each front dart and moved the zip to the centre back. Next time, I’ll lower the front darts slightly.
First worn:  For photos here on what would have been Mum’s birthday weekend at a local park here in Wellington.

Another one/recommendations:  If you’re looking for a cute little blouse for the summer, this is the one! It’s relatively simple to make up, although the cuffs on view 3 are a wee bit fiddly, not difficult though. If you’re making view 2, you can get away with a slightly stiffer fabric, since the shoulders button, otherwise, use a fine cotton which ties well for views 1 and 3. As for whether another one is coming from my sewing room – that would be giving away a trade secret…

As for Mum, I reckon she’s looking from wherever she is and liking it. I think she’ll be happy to see what I’ve made from her fabric.

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