Sewing

I love to sew. I used to sew all the time when my girls were little, but then they grew up and wanted clothes that were "cool". I guess I don't do "cool," so I stopped garment sewing except for an occasional confederate soldier or Luke Skywalker costume for my son. I turned to knitting and quilting as even my "baby" boy outgrew my projects. Recently I have rediscovered my love of sewing and yes, even though I can get ready-made clothes cheaper, I find deep satisfaction in creating my own well-made, China free garments. It is one of the many ways I have been adjusting my life to be less dependent on big box stores, which seem to be taking over the landscape of suburban and rural America.

I finished this blouse for myself and am very happy with the design. I find that the biggest battle with garment sewing is finding the right design for my body type. This pattern is perfect. It has fitting darts, which give it a nice nip in the waist, while allowing just the right amount of flair or ease in the hip and buttocks area.
The fabric was bought at a local quilting store, Quilter's Corner (quilterscornerva.com), and is from a line of fabric by Moda called "French General."

The brown line with dots actually runs along the salvage of the fabric and was too interesting to cut off, so I incorporated it in the blouse as an embellishment along the front plackets and pocket. Altogether, I am very pleased with the way it turned out and I think it will look good paired with jeans.
Here is the the pattern:

 Amy Butler Designs for Midwest Modern Sewing Patterns

This pattern, by the way, has several lengths from shirt to shirt waist dress as well as different length sleeves.
Blessings