Camas Blouse, Thread Theory

CAMAS BLOUSE : : THREAD THEORY

Camas Blouse, Thread Theory, A Colourful Canvas,
Camas Blouse, Thread Theory, A Colourful Canvas,
A Colourful Canvas, Camas Blouse, Thread Theory
 Camas Blouse, Thread Theory, A Colourful Canvas,

 

Hello and Happy January. While many of my 40+ blogging friends are decidedly low key about the new year {which is all good}, it appears that the sewing community is abuzz with anticipation. I have been happily immersed in your world, voraciously reading about your sewing goals for 2015, your hits and misses from 2014, and the many challenges and pledges that seem to be popping up on various blogs! Me? I ease into the new year, rarely making plans, let alone resolutions. But all this enthusiasm has inspired me to reflect on what I’ve done in the past and what I might like to do differently in the future. One thing that has become clear, is that an important and growing part of the online sewing community is still quite new to me, and that is the world of independent {or Indie} sewing pattern companies! Yes, I have a few Indie makes, but I’ve barely scratched the surface. This year I’m looking forward to sewing more patterns designed by these {mostly} young, {and all} talented women. And. I can think of no better way to start my new year than with a pattern very recently released by Thread Theory, an almost-local based business. {They’re on Vancouver Island.} Without further adieu, please do say hello to the Camas Blouse

Before I launch into a good ramble about this make, I want to give a quick heads up to my non-sewing friends….Because this is a new pattern, I’m going to go into a little greater detail about my sewing experience…something I rarely do when modeling garments made from patterns no longer in print. If your eyes begin to glaze over, or worse…roll back in your head….please, please, skip right on past the next few paragraphs.

Okay, the Camas Blouse…I sewed a straight size 8, although I’m a size 6 at the waist and hip. The finished garment fits beautifully…well, except the neckline…the neckline is too low for me. Fortunately, a camisole provides both comfort and some extra winter warmth. The pattern is designed for knit fabrics, with the option of using a woven fabric for the yoke. {I used woven cotton gingham for the yoke and placket.} So, what is it with knit fabrics? I find it so hard to find knit fabrics that I like. So many of them strike me as either looking dated or just plain dull. When I happened upon this blue and pink patterned knit at Value Village for $2.99, I decided to just buy it and treat this first make as a test garment for fit. I mean seriously….you are getting a bit of a pyjama vibe, aren’t you? Now, and I’m keeping it real here…I know this is not high fashion…sometimes an armful of bracelets just isn’t enough to elevate a look…but, it is super comfortable…kinda like…um…wearing pyjamas. It was a great way to work out any pattern quirks, and I can see wearing this top casually. Whatever we think, I’m joining lovely Patti at Not Dead Yet Style for Visible Monday. I think we can all agree I’m nothing if not pretty visible.

All righty. Sewing this was pretty much a breeze. There aren’t many pattern pieces and they all matched precisely. The pattern instructions were very clear and easy to follow, although I did experience one umermhmmm moment. One of the final steps is to top-stitch the placket seam line. It was the illustration beside this instruction that had me slightly confused. It shows the top-stitching along the outer edge of the placket. That didn’t look quite right to me so I sewed my top stitching along the other side of the placket, a scant 1/8″ from the seam line that attaches the placket to the garment. The end result effectively securing the placket facing to the placket front. I think that was the intention of the pattern designer, although I’m not entirely certain.

One little word of caution: Be mindful when sewing said placket to the garment…the pattern instructions clearly state to sew the longest side of the curved neck placket to the shirt neckline. The potentially tricky thing is that the other {wrong}side of the placket seems to fit just fine…ask me how I know. Yep, despite the reminder, I initially sewed my placket on incorrectly, which resulted in a placket that stood up at the back of the neck instead of lying flat. With some careful stitch ripping, I was able to correct my error. If you aren’t having to ease in extra fabric, you might be making the same boo-boo I made.

Overall, I’m really pleased with the pattern, and I anticipate sewing another one just as soon as I find some awesome fabric! I will do a simple alteration to raise that neckline, and that’s about it. For those that care to know, this pattern is only available in PDF, and I clearly have not yet found my rhythm when it comes to taping together twenty or so pieces of copy paper. I’d go as far as to say that I find it tedious matching everything up. My cats, on the other hand, delight in skidding across my nearly constructed paper puzzle, effectively destroying my efforts. And. I admit it. I do say a little ouch when I purchase Indie patterns. They are not inexpensive. The Camas Blouse is $11.00 (Canadian $ for me), which is quite significantly more than the sixty-nine cents I spend at the thrift store. Having said that, I am so appreciative of the heart that goes into these patterns. I’m still a bit giddy about having met Tasia from Sewaholic. These young designers have so much passion for what they do, and that really says a lot to me. I also understand that production costs are higher for these small companies. So, even though you’ll still see me making big four pattern company designs, I’m eagerly beginning to explore many of the Indie design companies! In fact…I’m heading east to Montreal for my next make

My other Indie makes:

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