A Stitching Odyssey: A Pendrell with a 30s twist

After a slow start to the stitching year, I’m relieved to be sharing my first completed sewing project of 2012!

I’ve said it a million times before, but I was smitten the very moment I saw Casey’s genius tutorial (part 1 & part 2) for adding a 1930s-style scalloped collar to the Sewaholic Pendrell blouse. This was last year and despite incorporating the idea into a dress, it’s taken me all this time to apply the tutorial in the way it was meant to be applied.

Sadly, my drafting skills leave something to be desired and I tend not to learn from all of my past mistakes! Had I remembered that during the making of said dress my collar came up a bit short, I would have saved myself some irritation this time round. Casey’s tutorial is as thorough as ever, so the mistake (which I haven’t figured out yet) is all mine! 

When I realised my Pendrell collar came up too short, I decided to cut my blouse at the shoulder seams I’d already carefully sewn *sob* and took an inch off either side. This did the trick and so I now have a collar that meets at the centre front neckline! Subsequently I had to lower the armholes to avoid extreme armpit tightness and I did lose some length of the bottom. Luckily it’s still long enough to wear tucked in and to be honest, I’ll most likely be wearing this beauty with jeans.

Even though I may not actually wear this top for another season or two, I really love the summery feel of it and the collar is totally up my street!

Next time though, I would do one or two things differently:

•    Use a slightly heavier-weight fabric. I used a beautiful cotton/silk mix fabric (from Ditto fabrics here), which probably would have been perfect for a Sorbetto, but is perhaps a tad ‘flimsy’ for this Pendrell. Every time I pull it over my head I’m afraid I’ll rip it and I’m convinced it will get destroyed in the wash!

•    Add a self-covered button to finish off the collar. I would have loved to try this, but because of the lightweight nature of my chosen fabric, I think the neckline would have sagged under the weight. Already the neckline is a bit saggy, but that’s something I can live with in its current state.

•    Chose a less busy fabric print. I think a less busy print would help to show off the scalloped collar a bit more.

Saying all this, I'm delighted with my little blouse and I can’t wait to get to take it for a spin in the sunshine…though I won’t hold my breath for that! These are mere lessons for the future – something that I can improve on and that might be helpful to others. 

If you too have tried Casey’s tutorial, please feel free to share a link below. I’d love to see your versions! I’ve spent countless hours being inspired by other people’s versions on Flickr…not that I’m an obsessive, compulsive stalker or anything!

P.S. Even though these photos were taken at about 2pm, it was far too gloomy outside to rely on natural lighting. Pretty depressing, no!?! But at least I got to try my professional lights and backdrop for the first time!