Burda 5/2017 Blouse 109: Flounce Forever

It’s the Year of the Flounce (as well as the Year of the Sleeve) and I’m just going with it.

Blouse with a tie, raglan cap sleeves, and a cut-on flounce, which means the fabric needs to be drapey, light and double-sided. There are no closures, so the waist needs to be large enough to pull on over the bust (more of an issue for some than others).

Technically this is a petite pattern, which at 5’8″ I am not; but believe it or not, I still had to shorten the armscye by 1/2″ front and back, and the bust dart was still about an inch too low, necessitating much weird sewing to avoid weird pointy bits.

I also did an FBA, which introduced a fisheye waist dart in the front. I tried it with and without the dart, and with is better IMO.

For construction, I serged any exposed seam allowances and used the sewing machines for the seams. It’s very tidy.

The pattern works. It all goes together properly. The sizing is as portrayed in the description and photos. It’s a cute idea. And yet … I don’t love it. That old bugbear: I don’t like blouses without closures on me. If it were a really drapey fabric it might be ok, but this is not drapey enough to make up for the lack of shaping inherent in a pullover woven top. Even with the waist dart. It’s just very boxy. I think it can work with a fitted skirt or pants with a good snug waist, but otherwise probably not.

The fabric is a cotton voile bought years ago and just sitting around waiting for the right blouse pattern. At the time of purchase I thought the right blouse pattern was going to be much bigger, so I have some left over. And I’ll be using it on something with closures.