I have been thoroughly enjoying myself in the sewing room.Matilda is competing as a Young Rural Ambassador. The current western fashion for the girls are really lovely shirts, feminine but practical. Tildy has the advantage that her Mummy can sew them.
Tildy is quite petite but muscular and has a D cup bust. Her blouses require a 3 inch FBA. Although a little fiddly, I have made a 'Matilda' bodice block that is useful when adjusting new patterns. It is so clever the way this adjustment gives her ease with out all the excess fabric through the shoulders. It does makes pressing a little fiddly and I often use a dressmakers ham to get a smooth finish. 
A
Our pattern of choice?
The
Aime Comme Madame a beautifully cut button up that fits the feminine form so nicely.
For our first shirt we omitted the collar and went with ALL the ruffles. The fabric is pure linen, slightly scratchy but the quality that you know it will get softer with each wear and wear well for years.
To create the front tab I folded the front placket to finish on top (I regularly use this finish with fabric that doesn't have a 'wrong' side) and attached the ruffle to the seam allowance. I caught the top of the ruffle under the collar stand. The collar ruffles had a shaped edge and I finished them where the collar would finish.
I shaped the sleeve edge ruffles the same. I used the same placket but I quite like a pointed placket point rather than a square edge.
The buttons are pearl look shank buttons. I am not a fan of the painted pearls as the finish can easily scratch or wash off but I guess I can change them. They certainly look pretty.
I used a flat button on the sleeve placket to reduce bulk and make the shirt more comfortable to wear.
A special request from Tilly was the shoulder ruffles that she wanted to stand up. To help achieve this I topstitched the seam to the sleeve allowance and I press it up with a steam iron.
Such a pretty look.
While I was on a roll I made two more!
This a time a pretty seersucker.
Tildy requested deeper ruffles and wooden look buttons.
Otherwise the shirt is exactly the same. It is interesting how much of a more casual shirt it looks in the cotton fabric. I was struggling to get a nice looking yoke match to the back so I used the tried and true, cut on the bias. I cut the under yoke on the true grain to stabilise it.
This is even more of the case with the final shirt, another seersucker in a pink/lavender colour way.
I was not a fan of this fabric. It felt a bit 'cheap and nasty' as my Mum would have said however it plumped up a bit with pre-washing.
A bonus of the last two blouses is that if they are removed promptly from the machine and hung on a coat hanger in a nice breeze they will barely need any pressing.
Once again, I used the bias yoke to solve the pattern matching dilemma.
It is funny how the fashions go around. I was wearing very similar clothes in my teens and early twenties. It is a pretty and practical look.
It is also an extremely satisfying sew for me.
Thank you so much for reading, stay safe and well.
xx Nicole (and Tildy)
