MuuMuu Confessions: Happy Homemade Sew Chic Blouse

Hello, my name is Emily and I love muumuus.

They are so comfy, flowy and easy to wear. They always look “Sew Chic” which is the name of the book I got this pattern from!

I used design D Blouse with Front Tucks with a couple of alterations. 

• I lengthened the blouse to dress, shortened the sleeves and added cuffs. 
• Decreased back pleat, partly as a design decision and partly to better accommodate my shoulders. I’m 5’10” with a 37” bust. I cut a size 12 which lists on the measurement chart 36 1/2 bust 29 waist and 38 1/2 hips.

We all know and love Japanese patterns for their simple designs with unique details that can showcase splendid fabrics. I used this magic on my vintage silk sari. It was a lot of fun to use the borders to highlight different design details. 

To completely use up the sari I made a simple top with the print that is only on the one end of the sari.  I ended up never wearing it so I gifted it to the friend you see in the photos with me. She loves purple and is just a tad smaller than I so it fits her better.

How has it worn? 

Oh man! Wearing silk is lovely! This turned into comfy loungewear after work at camp and became breathable pajamas when I came home and the wood stove started up. This was old silk so it pulled at the seams from the beginning. I'm not sure if I hand washed it this last time in too abrasive of soap but all of a sudden it has started shredding. I'm sad that its days are limited but I've been wearing it almost every night. 

Don't take our MuuMuus away!!!

Do you wear silk? What are your favorite pajamas to wear?

The Oompaloompa Tunic

Hello Friends,
  Life is crazy. We all know this. And we all know the best cure for crazy is some sewing time. I stole some time from all the packing and made up this tunic that had been bubbling away in my head all summer. I used the super simple pattern from Happy Homemade Sew Chic and promptly made it as complicated as I could.

  Since it was a plaid, of course the yoke had to be cut on the bias, and I had to ignore Sanae's advice (which I can't find now) on how wide in the body it was and cut it according to the pattern measurements, also ignoring my own gut saying "That's really wide!!!" when I'd seen what I'd cut. A massive maternity moo moo was not the look I was going for.

  Despite all this it was the perfect soothing project I needed to work on. The gathers made me look like I was expecting, so I changed it to big chunky pleats across the front and back then shirred the life out of it to give me some waist definition. What makes playing with fabric so relaxing? I really enjoyed working on the puzzle of this top and am VERY happy on how it turned out. Even if it doesn't look so fabulous in the photos.

Look at the great poof and flare this has! 

Steam your shirring afterwards and it really makes it gather! This fabric was probably at the top end of gathering weight because it didn't really do much on the pleat sections since it was three layers of fabric.

Another random fact is look how much bias tape I had left over! Talk about a perfect stash bust!

Look at that little tail! Whew!

Tada! Another project off my FESA list!  When my guys saw it they promptly dubbed it the Oompaloompa tunic. It reminded them of this.

So how about you? Do you ever love something that maybe isn't the most flattering thing to wear? Is working on a sewing puzzle soothing or frustrating for you?

PS! It's the last day of 50% off my entire Etsy shop! I promise I'll stop spamming my Twitter and Facebook accounts after this. :) I know how much we all want more patterns and fabrics and how hard it is to resist a sale!