Anchor Mimi Blouse

Look, it’s my first blouse! I made the Mimi blouse from Love at First Stitch.

I made no alterations to this one as I made it immediately after making my alteration-ridden Megan dress (the one with the six bodice muslins) and I just wanted to get my teeth stuck straight into the sewing. I think the finished piece fits me alright – but then it’s a loose fitting garment with no darts or anything, so there wasn’t much risk there.

I bought the fabric at the People’s Park Food Centre in Chinatown, which is amazing by the way. Fabric stores as far as the eye can see – and cheap too!

This is a cotton, but beyond that I couldn’t tell you much about it. I thought it was a lawn when I bought it, but it isn’t especially drapey, so I suspect it’s more of a poplin. Anyone got any tips on how to identify different types of cotton?

Unfortunately the pattern calls for drapiness, so the finished blouse is a bit stiffer than I would like. It’s wearable, but I’m not really all that sure about the way it hangs at the back when it’s tucked in:

That’s not as much of a problem when it’s untucked – but that’s not really my style. I tend towards an hourglass silhouette, so I’d typically tuck in a loose fitting blouse at the waist. We’ll have to see how often I reach for this one in my wardrobe.

I did have a couple of other issues making it. I must have sewn the yoke interfacing on a little wonky, because the corner above the top button really wants to stick out, and no amount of pressing will subdue it. I had a go at restitching it without much success, so in the end I whacked a hidden hook-and-eye in there. Bit of a duct tape solution, but it did the trick…

The other issue was really just foolishness on my part. Put the buttons on the wrong side, didn’t I? Totally didn’t think that through. At least I know I’ll never make that mistake again. It feels very weird buttoning up a blouse this way round!

All in all, a successful make, but I’m not sure how much I will end up wearing it. I’ve just picked up some drapey rayon to make up another version and see if I can make this pattern work for me.