The 'Blue Lace' Blouse

Sometimes I'll go fabric shopping with a little scrap of paper or print outs of my pattern requirements, for patterns that I have in my stash that have been 'calling' to me.  I knew I wanted to make another blouse so I brought the details for Colette's Violet blouse with me... ya know, just in case I found the right fabric.  I knew I wanted something neutral that would go with a lot and also be wearable for the summer.

I had never been to Hart's Fabric in Santa Cruz, but the hubby and I had decided to spend a day 'over the hill' (as South Bay locals refer to it) and spend some time paddle boarding and playing tourist.  I had seen Harts' online store and thought it was amazing, so I was super excited to check out their storefront.

It did not disappoint.

It's a decent size fabric store that was broken up into two main sections: home decor and apparel fabrics.  I spent my whole time either in the apparel section, or in front of their wall of buttons.  They had a great selection of fabric that I haven't been able to find locally.  Liberty of London, nice linens and apparel cottons, Japanese prints, and so much more.  I really had to reign in and luckily had my little folder of potential projects.  This blue fabric was one of my first finds and I pretty much wandered around the store with it the entire time.


The Facts


Fabric: A lightweight cotton swiss dot fabric that also had lace/eyelet type stripes running through it.  I really can't describe it better than the pictures show it, but it's nice and lightweight - perfect for the summer.  It almost has a linen feel to it.  I got it from Hart's Fabric in Santa Cruz during my first visit to the retail store. ~$20
Pattern: Colette's Violet, $0.  Second time using it.
Year: Contemporary
Notions: Buttons! From Hart's. I think I paid about $2 for all of them.
Time to complete: 4 hours
First worn: Over the weekend to a birthday bbq.
Wear again? Oh yeah! This'll be a summer staple.
Total cost: $22

I love how casual this blouse feels, but I think the quality of the fabric dresses it up a bit more.  So I could wear it with shorts or khaki's, or maybe a little fancier... to work perhaps?  I definitely have to wear a tank under it, due to the eyelet stripes.



The blouse was still easy the second time around, though I was tempted to omit the collar facings after working with the Banksia pattern.  I ended up making the pattern the same as before, but I added an inch in length.  I want the option to wear it tucked in without it coming out too easy, and to be able to raise my arms without giving a show of my non-flat abs.  I also tried to give the waist just a bit more shape.  I didn't want it snug but I do think this blouse tends to look a bit boxy. I love seeing how so many bloggers are modifying the waist to make it more fitted and feminine.

Anyways, it's a great blouse and I'm so happy to add yet another separate to my closet.  More like another blouse - I just don't have nearly enough.  But I'm slowly working on it!

What I Watched: The Three Musketeers (1993) and more Scrubs
The Three Musketeers was one of my favorite movies as a young teen.  It came out when I was still in grade school and I remember playing in the schoolyard with my girlfriends, pretending that we were sword fighting musketeers.  Yeah, I was a big goober.  I actually briefly took fencing in high school and have four years of French under my belt.  Do I attribute it to this movie?  Well, maybe only the first part.  The rest was just my teen crush on Chris O'Donnell.

The 'Peter Pan Polka Dots' Blouse & MMM Kickoff

Oh, by the way... I've signed up for Me Made May.

Sometimes I put the little 'participating' button on the side of the blog and then forget to actually talk about it.  But I really enjoyed the last Self-Stitched September and pretty much signed myself up mentally immediately afterwards.  So here's my pledge this time around:

'I, Christine of What's Up, Cupcake? Blog, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '12. I endeavour to wear at least one handmade garment each day for the duration of May 2012.'

Essentially the same as last time, but my wardrobe has really grown over the last few months.  I hope to have less duplicates, though there are some items that I just love so they're in constant rotation.

I'll lump the posts together when possible so you're not reading a 'what I wore' post everyday, but I'll  make sure to call out new items... like this one!

MMM '12 Day 1: The 'Peter Pan Polka Dots' Blouse

The Facts

Fabric: not sure of the fabric... 2 yards of a vintage silky white with blue polka dots fabric that I picked up from the flea market $10

Pattern: Megan Nielsen's Banksia, second time making it $0

Year: Contemporary

Notions: Buttons $1.50, bias tape and elastic from stash 

Time to complete: 3.5 hours

First worn: 1st of May as my first Me Made May item!

Wear again? All the time!

Total cost: $11.50

As I mentioned the first time I made Megan Nielsen's Banksia, this is the perfect blouse.  It's so fast to sew, so few pattern pieces, and only requires a minimal amount of fabric.  It's also the perfect mix between casual and work appropriate, so with this version I made sure to touch on the latter.  I never have enough blouses for work and as soon as I laid my hands on this fabric I knew it would be perfect.  It's a nice, silky fabric but it came together as smoothly as if I were working with cotton.  So, no idea what it is, but I love it.

I started on this blouse immediately after the last one but I had a slight delay in finishing it just because I didn't have the buttons on hand.  I finally made it out to the store this weekend to pick some up.  The only change I made to the blouse, and really just because I liked the look it had on my Darling Ranges dress (post coming soon) was to add elastic into the sleeves.  I liked the little gathered look it adds to the ends.

I've noticed the blogisphere aflutter with MMM announcements, so are you participating?

Western Wear and a Banjo on my Knee

I'm trying to catch a Sew Weekly challenge at least once a month, but I usually have some other project that's taking all of my attention and focus.  When I saw this week's challenge was Western, I thought 'I could do that!' and instantly ran out to my local fabric store to pick up supplies.

I was hoping for a cute calico or paisley print, but in the end, I left with a gingham. Still cute, and gives me the Western feel that I was hoping for.  I also decided to try out one of the new Colette patterns that I had recently picked up - Violet - a cute, collared, blouse.

The expression on my face looks crazy. Sometimes I feel so un-photogenic.

I've gotten so comfortable with Colette patterns. They're so well written and constructed, and this one was no exception.  I think this was the last of the Colette patterns that I own that I had yet to try, so now I can start to go back and revisit some of my favorites, and see what's missing so I can complete my collection. 


I really enjoyed making this pattern and look forward to making another one, but next time in a cute, girly or lightweight fabric.  I've loved looking at everyone's variations to this pattern for inspiration.

Oh, and did I mentioned I've been learning to play the banjo?  I thought I'd add that to my photos to complete the look.  Now I can sit on my front porch in my new gingham blouse, and pluck at the strings to my banjo.

EDIT I keep forgetting to include the details of my garments! Here they are in a more organized fashion:

Fabric: Black and white gingham cotton.  Used about 2 3/8 yards as Sarai specified.
Pattern: Colette Violet, Version 1
Notions: 7 small black buttons. Accessorized with a banjo. ;)