I believe that if we take good care of ourselves and put effort into our appearance, that we reach a place where our look is ageless. As in who cares how old she is, she looks great!
Helen Mirren pulls this off with understated, figure flattering clothes, a great hair cut and a twinkle in her eye. A role model we After 40’s can look up to.
Oscar de la Renta at Style.com
I have three words for Michelle Obama, “elegant, understated fashion”. She simply has too many choices; she needs to learn to be a good editor. Style is as much about what you don’t choose as what you do.
American fashion is about uncomplicated clothes with clean lines worn with a dash of panache. Iconic American designers like Oscar de la Renta, Calvin, Klein, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and Michael Kors know how to design contemporary clothing without falling prey to foofy, fussy design. (more…)
I saw a blouse like this at Nordstrom, it was around $200-$250 and I didn’t like the colors it came in, royal blue or kelly green. I couldn’t find a pattern to use to copy it, so I made my own.
I started with Butterick 4658, I’ve used this pattern as the beginning of many blouses.
First, on the front pattern piece, I drew on a v-neckline. I measured how low I wanted the new neckline to be and drew a a straight line from the shoulder to the center front. Then I gave the v-neck a nice curve.
I had to shorten the back shoulder seam to match the new front shoulder seam and scoop out the back neckline too.
Then I cut 2″ front and back facings off of the front and back pattern pieces. I added seam allowances to the facings and the front and back neckline.
I slashed the front and added about 4″ of ease (1″ between each cut). See photo above of front pattern piece. I drew 2 parallel lines 1″ apart and 1″ from center front and slashed and spread the pattern here. I wanted to keep the shirring close to the center front.
I folded out the dart because I had plenty of ease with the new width I was adding. Then I arranged the slashed front pattern piece, with the spacing between the slashes and placed a piece of pattern material over it and traced the new front.
I shortened the sleeve 5 1/2″ to just below the elbow. I added a 2″ wide cuff, measuring my arm for the finished length.
The construction went smoothly. As always (see my post on sewing with silks in “Tutorials”) I covered my cutting table with a sheet and pinned the pattern pieces to the fabric and the sheet. This keeps slippery fabric under control. I finished the seams with pinking shears. I have a serger, but the thread showed through to the right side when I pressed the seams. The best way to finish the seams would’ve been with french seams. I marvel at and appreciate all of you who finish you garments so beautifully on the inside. But I’d never get anything finished if I were that perfect. If I’m the only one who is going to see the inside, I finish in the fastest way possible. When I’m sewing for others I make it look good inside.
I constructed the facings, understitched the neck edge and top stitched it. Then I sewed the fully constructed facing unit to the front and back, sewing with all of the raw edges together then pressing toward the garment. Turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. In this picture you can see my pinked seam allowance at the back neckline.
I love this hem–I first saw it at Donna Karan and the Derek Lam skirt in my Spring ’08 Wardrobe Part 1 post (in Design Inspiration) uses it too. It’s basically a cuff added to the bottom of the blouse. It eliminated the problem of narrow hemming the slippery silk fabric and it adds a little weight to the blouse and makes it hang nicely.
I cut 2 front and back band pieces,with a finished width of 4″. I sewed the side seams and sewed them together at the bottom edge. I underdstitched and pressed the band. I sewed the band on to the bottom of the garment, sewing all the raw edges together. Then I finished the seam and pressed it toward the top. (This time I finished the seam with a zig-zag stitch–don’t ask me why!)
The blouse looks great over skinny jeans or black slacks. And it’s great for those “fat” days!
Ta-ta for now!