After a very slow start to the year I have upped my sewing game and made not one but two new blouses this week! The good thing about this is that I’ve used some pieces of Liberty that have been in my stash for years. Now I just need to keep on making a few things a week for a few months and I might actually make a dint in the stash 😂

Both these blouses are the same pattern: based on the Montrose Top by Cashmerette. I’ve had this digital pattern for years but my earlier attempts at making a well fitting top with it were not great successes. This time I re-measured myself and followed Jenny’s list of fitting advice from her blog post “Why doesn’t it fit?”. This was great as I ended up starting with a size much closer to fitting and only had to made a few small adjustments. The pattern is designed for larger bust sizes and comes with pattern pieces for C/D, E/F and G/H sizes. I used the E/F size which worked really well.

I made a toile from some cheap material and made sure I left extra seam allowance around the bust so I could rework it. This was very helpful as I ended up lowering the bust point (thanks gravity) and then raising it again when I went too far. I also graded one size up for my hips and moved the shoulder seam back a little. I think I could have moved the shoulder seam back another half inch but it doesn’t affect the fit so I’ve left it. The big change I made to the pattern was to straighten out the back yoke and replace the gathers in the lower back with a box pleat. Also, I did fancy French Seams on both blouses. I think this makes them sturdier and also gives a very smooth and professional-looking finish.