Now I Know For Sure

April 26, 2025

Either you have a pattern that needs the right fabric or you have the fabric that just needs the perfect pattern. In this case, I had the fabric. This is a beautiful floral, crinkle cotton that I bought on sale from Blackbird Fabrics over a year ago. I loved it even more when it arrived than when I first saw it online.

I knew I wanted to make something special. I also didn’t want to spend any money on a pattern. I already have a lot of patterns and I can change different elements if I know what I want. I decided to use the Seamwork Violet Blouse. I chose it because it was a pretty basic button up and it had a great collar. The back of this pattern has a yoke and a back pleat. It gives you more range of motion in the back but it also makes the blouse more boxy. I’m not a fan of a boxy blouse on my body and I have never liked a back pleat. Even if I think I don’t like something on myself, I always wonder if it’s just a figment of my imagination. Maybe if I tried it, I would actually like it. It’s good to try new things. And so I went ahead and finished the blouse. I tried it on and I hated it. I took it right back off. I pouted about it for a few days and then remembered how much I loved the fabric. I decided to try to fix it. I removed the back pleat by adding a centre back seam. Since I had to add the seam I took the opportunity to shape it even more by making it a curved seam rather than a straight one. I also took in the sides a little. I tried it back on and now I love it. If I ever make this top again, I’ll do away with the yoke and make the back a single piece without a centre seam but I’ll add two small darts to keep the shaping. I have enough fabric left over that I could swap in a new back. We’ll see how I feel in a couple of months. I’ll probably forget and just happily live with it the way it is.

I also changed the short sleeves to long and added a narrow cuff. I love how they turned out.

I still believe in trying new things and stepping out of my comfort zone but now I can confidently put the boxy top experiment behind me. I just know it’s not for me.