Lekala Blouse #4379 for Lidia

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More Clin blouse please Mumma, said my sweet girl. The criteria? Short sleeves, neat and professional and no ties or bows that can be grabbed (eeek)!

We chose Lekala #4379 . Lekala are a pattern company that make a PDF that is customised to your personal measurements.

There are several really lovely details to this blouse.

The rounded collar is modern and oversized, as is the collar stand. It 'sits out' from the neck in a pleasing, editorial fashion.

A concealed placket is always very elegant. I like to pre-fold and press the hem before stitching the placket. I then fold the hem in on its self, fold, press and stitch the placket, then hand sew the very bottom of the placket so it is a perfect finish. After that I machine sew the rest of the hem leaving an un-sewn few inches to sew the front to the back. Once the side seams are sewn I finish the hem. It gives a very tidy look to the garment.

The stitched down pleats at the neck sit beautifully and aid in the chicness of the  neckline.

Here you can really see the texture of the cotton, self checked fabric I found deep stash. The buttons are simple white plastic as I found a white blouse needs frequent Napi-san soaking and plastic holds up better than Mother of Pearl. 

The shoulder darts are another lovely detail that shape the blouse as is the back seam. Lidia has quite a sway back, a back seam helps me fit this with ease.

The focal point of the garment is the tulip sleeve. I finished this with a narrow hem.

The sleeve sewing was where I ran into a few issues. No matter how I tried I could not get my pattern pieces to line up. I ended up trimming that wee piece of overlap off.

In retrospect I think I should have gently pulled on the bias and used this extra fabric as, according to Lidia, the sleeve feels a bit firm on.

The front, back and sides all fit nicely with good ease.

However, when she lifts her arms there is definite restriction. 

So, a beautiful blouse but not quite right for Clinical Simulations.

Luckily Lekala has 600 odd more  blouse patterns to choose from.

Thank you for reading and stay safe and well. xx Nicole