1950's Gingham Blouse and Skirt (Simplicity 1426)
Wow, I can't believe that this is already the second "Sewn" post for the year. This has been an incredible year of sewing for me so far (and it's only March), and I am so excited to share this recent make with everyone! This green gingham fabric has been in my stash for a long long time. I remember purchasing it because it was cheap (which is a bad choice in retrospect) and putting it away with the rest of my stash while waiting for the "right pattern" to come around. When I purchased the Simplicity 1426 pattern late last year, I knew I wanted to use this fabric to create a cute 50's inspired look with any of the bra tops in the pattern, complete with a matching skirt. It seemed easy when I planned it out in my head...
Back when I bought the fabric, I was a young and naive sewist. I didn't know matching pattern was a thing. Watching The Great British Sewing Bee taught me a lot of things. For one, it taught me that pattern matching could either make or break a finished garment. As I began to plan the placement of pattern pieces for this project, my feelings towards this chirpy green fabric turned from that of happiness and hope to a kind of fear and resentment.
Alas, the fear of matching large gingham pattern got the better of me. I decided to shelf this project for a while (and later moved on to cutting and sewing my first handmade PJs set).
Somewhere in November, I finally mustered enough courage to start sewing the pieces together. Everything came together surprisingly well! It's not perfect in all the spots, but I think it's pretty darn good for someone who is doing pattern matching for the first time.
PATTERN & SEWING NOTES
For the top, I made view A in size 4 which fitted me very well at all the important spots. As I wanted something that would look more like a top and less like a bra, I lengthened my bottom band to around 3.25" wide. I also added some bra cups between the gingham fabric and the lining so that this could truly be a bra top and not worn with anything else underneath. More importantly, the bra cups help to fill up the top more than my boobies can!
I made the skirt without any pattern. It's basically a long rectangular piece of fabric sewn at the ends to make a loop, then gathered at the top and sewn to a sturdy waistband. Working with limited yardage (as usual), I could not make a full circle skirt.
Both the bra top and the skirt have button closures. The top, in particular, has the cutest green flower buttons I found in my stash.
Have I mentioned anything about the buttonholes? Another thing that the GBSB taught me was the magic of a buttonhole foot. Every single button hole on the back of the top is of equal size. Every. Single. One.
Moving ahead, I'm already in the midst of cutting up view C for another project. I also have this same gingham print in red and blue (in different yardage). Maybe I will be working on them soon in the next few months. If you like what I have been making so far this year, don't forget to subscribe to my blog and follow me on Instagram (@gwenstella.made) to join me in all of my adventures!