This weekend I finished up a sewing project, and I’m so excited to reveal it!
I started my scalloped collar Pendrell blouse back in early July and got it about 80% complete, then life got in the way and I didn’t pick it back up until this weekend when I finished it up lickety split. I was tired of it taunting me from my dress form every time I walked past it!
I’m kind of over the moon about this blouse!
First of all, I want to say how nice the Pendrell blouse pattern was to work with. This was my first time using a Sewaholic pattern and I loved it. Tasia’s instructions and diagrams are very clear and easy to follow (okay, and I totally love how it ends with a big “THE END!”). The fit was fantastic, too, and ran true to size. I didn’t do a muslin and the entire time wondered how I was really going to get it over my head with no closure without it being a super baggy fit, but it was perfect. The only change I made (other than the collar, of course), was taking several inches off the length of the bodice pieces.
I could totally see making different collared versions of this pattern now!
I used Casey’s 30s scalloped collar tutorial (part 1, part 2) for the collar. This was so much fun and a good challenge for me. Ever since I saw her post I knew I wanted to make my own version because I just absolutely fell in love with the collar. I’d been daydreaming about making my own version for months. The tutorial was very detailed and I was able to follow along with each step with no prior drafting experience. And I’m ecstatic with the result!
Don’t get me wrong, there are a few minor quibbles I have with it, but it’s all due to my own drafting, sewing skills and fabric choice. I realized that I must have been a bit lax in the placement of my scallops on my template as the two that sit on the back of each shoulder are slightly closer to the white inner collar than all the others. Overall the entire collar was the slightest bit uneven and even more slightly too long, but I was able to even things out when sewing it all together. And while you can’t tell in these photos, the fabric is a bit darker and due to the busy print the scallops kind of fade away into the background when indoors. I anticipated this before attaching the under piece of the scalloped border, so I re-cut it out of the white fabric to give it a tad more ‘pop’.
This project had two firsts for me: first time drafting my own collar, and first time making French seams. The navy floral is cotton lawn (the white is a cotton/poly shirting) and so I knew French seams were probably the way to go, since it was a tad on the sheer side. I loved the result.
I was happy with how my collar came together. I pretty much followed Casey’s instructions exactly. The only real issue I had in the construction process was pressing the scallops, which I knew would be hard. My first try at it they looked terrible, so I cut out a little cardboard template that was a teensy bit larger than the scallop, inserted it into the scallop, pressed with the template in it, then carefully removed the template and pressed the daylights out of it. While some are still not perfect (this fabric didn’t like to hold creases), it was a big improvement.
Below you can see the difference between a scallop on the left, pressed normally, and a scallop on the right, pressed with my handy dandy template. It made such a difference that I slipped the template into my pattern envelope!
Oh yeah, and you can see I got a haircut Saturday! I did end up going a few inches shorter. I’m really liking the ease of this length, and I might even go for another inch or two off next time so I can do a pageboy sometimes. It’s one of my favorite vintage hairstyles. (By the way I’ve been meaning to do a bit of a hair tutorial for awhile, I need to get my butt in gear!)
Anyway, I’m so pleased with this blouse! It’s really comfortable and lawn was a great fabric for it, and I can’t say enough good things about this collar. I’d like to sew a pair of light trousers to wear with it, since jeans were the only thing I had in my closet that it worked with. I definitely will make a couple more of these blouses as it’s the perfect summery top. But I’ll probably wait until next year since I’m thinking more about fall sewing at this point!
I would highly recommend both Casey’s 30s scalloped collar tutorial and the Sewaholic Pendrell blouse pattern. Both are big winners in my book!
Very cute! Love the color and the collar 😉
Gorgeous!! I love how the white makes it look like a sailor collar, then on second glance you see the scallops and go ‘Ooooooh!’ 😀 Wonderful job.
The collar is SO. CUTE. What a great job! Looks awesome.
Gah!! Love it! I’m so having a go at this too…love the idea of the scallop pressing aid. Inspired!
Px
wow looks great! I’m definately thinking more about autumn/winter sewing now, I’ve abandoned all summer ideas for a while now!
It came out great! I love it!
Oh WOW! I love your version so much! It looks fabulous! And really good tip about pressing with the template inserted! YAY!
Your version looks awesome! That pressing template is a great idea! And I just love how your rose tattoo is peaking out.
Love this, great job! I really adore the lawn fabric you choose to use; the color really suits you!
The neckline on this blouse is so darling, it reminds me of a ’40s dress I own. It’s so hard to find vintage blouses that fit me, I’ll have to check out these patterns & tutorials and pass them along to my mom who could sew one up for me!
Your hair looks amazing as always, I’m really sick of mine at the moment and am debating between growing it out even more or chopping off 4-5 inches.
Love love LOVE it! It’s just beautiful.
This turned out so wonderful. Great job on the collar and I love the color on you.
I love it! Would you like to make me one?
So pretty! I love that collar detail 🙂
what a pretty top.Love the pattern and the collar.great job.
Love the scalloped collar! I can see why it might be a bit challenging, but you did a great job. The print is really fabulous, too.
You are a very clever gal, looks amazing.
Thank you guys!! I am so glad Casey wrote up a tutorial for that very fab collar. 🙂
It looks really lovely!! Especially the collar with the little bow at the front 🙂
I’m astounded by this blouse. astounded. and that’s not just the pills talking. Let’s start with the point-of-interest – the lovely collar! what a fantastic job you did, design and execution A+ and bonus points for your rose tattoo peeking out in front! Now that’s couture, bb! If you made a line of these, I’d see a similar-but-contrasting fabric for the scallop part on some of the others…and wouldn’t an all-white one be dreeeeamy?? Well these colors are marv, and in fact your entire look is just the bommbadinga!!! Slammin’ hair!
I’ve only just stumbled upon your blog now and I’m so glad I did! I love your blouse so much! I’ve actually used Casey’s tutorial to add this collar to a dress and have since bought the Pendrell pattern too, which I can’t wait to make up with this collar! Adorable!
Okay… I feel like an utter dolt because it took me so long to catch up with my feed reader! 🙁 But I wanted to say how much I love your blouse!!! The fabric is so pretty–it looks like a vintage piece. 🙂 I’m so tickled that you used my tutorial and it worked so well! 😀 Thank you ever so much for posting about it! Bravo!
This blouse is soo adorable! You did a lovely job on it; the scallops look absolutely perfect!
My comment mirrors Casey, that I’m really behind on my feed reader, too. I’ve kept this post as ‘unread’ for the expressed purpose of wanting to come back and leave a comment.
Summer feels like it’s come and gone so quickly now that all I have on my brain is fall knitting/sewing even though it’s still warm out. Wish I had time to make one of these…