Japanese Drape Blouse

Pattern: Self-drafted with help from McCall's Easy 1 hour Cardigan #M6084
Fabric: 2 yds of a beautiful Japanese polyester from recycled material, feels like silk
Cost: $10

I had a great time making this blouse, inspired by a vintage design I found online. Rather than just cutting and sewing, I snipped out a general shape borrowed from McCall's drapey cardigan and then set about draping it on my dress form. It felt like a really spontaneous, creative and flexible way to make a garment, adding a pleat here, trimming some fabric there. While I have no training in draping, this was a fun, easy way to make a blouse.

It also didn't hurt that the fabric feels amazing, and I am definitely inspired to work with more like it in the future. Japanese polyester, they told me at Crossroads Fabric, is made from recycled plastics and has a spot-on grain and amazing drape and feel. This blouse feels soft and luxurious, and it wasn't too slippery to sew with, either. With this fabric and my new drape drape book, I've gotta say that the Japanese have got it going on.



To make, I cut the front and back sections of the 1 hour cardigan, trimmed them to the waist, and played around with the pieces on my dress form. The fabric is a basic top pattern with extra fabric at the the front and along the neckline, which I folded toward the inside and secured to the top with a blind hem. I pleated the fabric together where it joins in the back, and again threw it up on the dress form to figure out how to attach the bottom, which is basically a rectangular piece.

Check it out at BurdaStyle and read my review of the pattern at PatternReview.com.


3 comments:

  1. Wow this is amazing. I love how you just went for it and made such a great shirt. I was looking at the pattern refernce you posted on PatternReview and the inspiration pictures! This is really great!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This shirt looks really great on you. Love the fabric, too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a gorgeous blouse, I want to make one now!

    ReplyDelete

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