My True Bias Roscoe Blouse in Sweet, Sweet Linen

Hi, sewing friends. Today’s project is a simple top with a lot of potential depending on what view you make or what fabric you make it in.

It’s the Roscoe Blouse from True Bias, a pattern that has proven very popular in the sewing community. It also has mini dress/tunic and dress views built in.

I held out for a long time before buying this pattern as I already have a pattern in the same style, but with a different fit (New Look 6472, blogged here). Finally, during a sale at Pintuck & Purl, I saw shopowner Maggie’s silk version, and I went for it and got the pattern for myself.

It’s no secret that I love positive ease, and this pattern has lots of it. The really lovely consequences of that design choice are that it is easy to fit and looks great in a number of drapey fabric substrates. For my first version, I chose to use some midweight “designer quality” linen from Fabric Mart Fabrics that I had originally planned to make into a skirt. I really love this fabric, and it is one that they regularly carry (although the color I used is currently unavailable), so this is now my second sewing project using it. (My first project was a dress, McCall’s 7774, blogged here.) It is easy to sew, substantial without being heavy, and AMAZING to wear. An added bonus is that the only supplies required are fabric and thread–no interfacing, snaps, buttons, or elastic.

I made view A, the blouse, in a size 16, even though my hip measurement was a 16/18. I didn’t have to do a broad back adjustment or anything. Yay!!!

It’s so rare that I can just trace a single size and cut it out.

The instructions were clear and easy to read. I chose to finish my edges with French seams, which are so satisfying and beautiful.

I accidentally put my neckline binding on the wrong way, and ended up topstitching it down on the outside instead of the less visible recommended finish, but I really liked it that way, so I decided to do the same thing on my sleeve bindings.

It was love at first try-on, although I did put a few stitches in near the bottom of the neckline slit to raise it just a little higher for my own comfort and modesty. I found I liked that better than wearing a camisole underneath.

Neckline detail view from inside

Fewer layers also preserved the glorious breeziness of this top, which I first wore on a warm and sunny fall day. I love the look of this best tucked in, and for that I would maybe consider making the shirt even longer to keep it tucked in better, but only maybe, as it’s fairly long already. It’s also very comfortable to wear untucked.

I can see what the hype is all about with this pattern. It’s a joy to make and to wear.

The Roscoe is a warm-weather dream in linen with its loose fit and roomy, slightly shortened sleeves, and I suspect that it would also be pretty nice in cooler temperatures with lengthened sleeves in a cozy cotton flannel, although that wouldn’t have the drape of a linen or a rayon. Hm… Maybe some of the drapier wool fabrics? I’d love to try the tunic and dress views as well. All in all, I’m really happy I tried this pattern, and it would be a pleasure to make more versions of it in the future.

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Summer’s Last Garment: Simplicity 1020 Pants

Fall has officially started (the autumnal equinox was Thursday, September 22), but I still have one more summer garment to share with you.  I also have a few other projects I did during the summer, but those are great for any season, so we’ll save them for another time.  Today I want to talk about these pants!

I really wanted some wide-leg linen pants for summer, and I also wanted to try sewing with linen, something I hadn’t done until I made this Datura blouse (also pictured).  When trying to find a pattern for the pants I had in mind, I remembered some scrub pants I owned in college.  They had a wide, straight leg and were the ultimate in comfort.  Since I hadn’t been able to find a pattern I really liked among the “regular” clothing patterns, I turned to the scrub patterns, and found Simplicity 1020.

 

I figured I could use that and just leave off a few of the extra pockets, keeping the front and back ones.  I found my fabric at Fabric.com–a Kaufman Essex Yarn Dyed Linen blend (55% linen, 45% cotton) in blue and a cotton/rayon (50% cotton, 45% rayon, 5% Lycra) knit in Indigo for the top of the pants.  Other than that, I just needed elastic and thread, which I had in my stash.

I made a quick muslin out of a sheet since I’ve had to do so many fit adjustments on recent bottoms, but while these could maybe have been tweaked slightly, they were good overall, and I decided to make them without adjustments.  This makes me wonder if the Simplicity pants/shorts patterns will fit me better (i.e. with fewer adjustments) than McCall’s and Butterick.  I’ll have to explore that as I make more pants.  The pants themselves were not too difficult to sew up, although I did prolong the process by finishing all my seams.  Finishing seams used to feel like such a chore and while it still does sometimes, I didn’t want thready insides once these pants were finished and went through the wash.  I used a turned-and-stitched finish (a.k.a. clean-finish) per the instructions in the Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Sewing.

The linen seemed too thick for French seams, although I’m open to hearing about other finishes people have used.  I also basically did a double turned hem for all the pockets and then topstitched them on so that I wouldn’t get threads in the pockets, either.  Last, but not least, I covered the seam where the main pants fabric joined the knit waist fabric with bias tape.

All of that added quite a bit of time, but I was really happy with these when they were finished.  I don’t know what has happened to me, but it makes me really happy to see those beautiful insides in a project.  I guess I’m “growing up” as a sewist.  😉

I think my only question on the whole thing is the hem length.  If I had hemmed these at the suggested spot, they would have been long, but probably good with heels.  I turned them up one more time so I could wear them with flatter shoes, and I think that is the right length for lower shoes, but sometimes, at some angles, they look a little bit like floods. (Wow.  I just used Google Images to look up “flood pants”.  It was a little different than I expected, but I think my statement still stands.)  I didn’t actually cut my excess off the hems, so if I change my mind later, I can rehem them to be longer.  I’m done with them for this year, though.

These pants are super comfortable (secret pajamas for the win!) and they wrinkle much, much less than I thought they would–maybe because of the cotton blended in?  I think of cotton as pretty wrinkly, but who knows?  Maybe because of the midweight?  I don’t know.  Whatever it is, I’m happy with them.  Now it’s on to fall sewing!

 

 

Recommendations

• Here’s one more post from Cotton + Steel about the fabric called cotton lawn.  Sounds like lawn is a winner for your button up shirt needs.
• I’m really impressed and intrigued by the embroidery of Tessa Perlow.  This article about her has some great pictures so you can get a feel for what she does.  I think I’d like to try adding embroidery to some of my garments someday…
• If you are a garment sewist in fairly close proximity to Exeter, NH, you might enjoy the Pattern Review Meetup happening at Pintuck & Purl this Saturday, September 24 from 2-4pm.
• Jellyfish or jelly fish?  Be careful how you say it!