Simplicity 8390 Vintage Blouse – Black with Red Flowers

This blouse was actually the very first thing I made from a pattern after learning to sew. When my dad went to take care of things at my grandmother’s house after she passed away, he came home with a box full of sewing patterns that she had used when my mother was growing up. This pattern was among them. My mother told us that it had been one of her favorites.

I decided to make the sleeveless version, and I picked out a light material for a summer top. I saw this fabric in the store, and I really liked the look of the bright flowers on the black background.

Sizing was a difficult matter. This pattern is marked as a size 12. As I haven’t worn store-bought dresses since the teenage sizes, I didn’t even know what my size would be. I still don’t know anything about standard sizes. Charts I’ve looked at recently show my measurements as corresponding to size 2-4. Although, I have worn two vintage dresses that were marked as size 8 petite. Aside from being a bit short, they seemed to fit me fine. So who knows?

Time for fitting and adjusting

I ended up just sewing it up and then taking in the side seams until I liked the fit. I think that’s about all I changed, except for adjusting the location of the waist elastic.

The shape of the armscyes at the side seam ended up a little wonky, though. I now know I should have adjusted them first so they would make a nice, smooth, round shape to the new seam.

I did a tight overlock stitch to finish the raw edges, and I think it gives it a nice, simple look.

Very recently I added a tag to the blouse. I like to put tags on all the clothes I make.

For my first time, I think it turned out pretty well, and it’s a cute top. But I didn’t stop with just this one. Don’t miss my next post about how I turned this blouse pattern into a dress!