My sewing for March has been all new shirts, with one vest in the mix. This one I am sharing today, is my favorite so far this month. The fabric and a new-to-me pattern are a great combination and I love the finished garment.

Let’s start with the fabric, a nice soft poplin and in a beautiful, deep shade of red. The poplin has a small pattern of gray throughout the fabric and the fabric is 56 inches wide. The red stayed the same deep shade of red through the prewashing and drying. Some of the other garments with this fabric are show as bottoms but I wanted a new top. This poplin has a great hand and some softness so it really worked nicely for my blouse.

I went with Lulu from Fibre Mood, the dramatic sleeves pulled me in and the cuffs. Mine does not have cuffs and we will get to that in a bit. I also loved the neckline, a soft v-neck with interesting gathers at the shoulder seam. I did get plenty of fabric which is a good thing, these sleeves take lots of fabric.
The blouse went together very nicely, the Fibre Mood construction of the front band and neckline was different than I expected but really made a great finished look. I did add and inch to the sleeves but that wasn’t enough, the reason for no cuffs. As I mentioned the sleeves are very full and the gathering of the sleeve to the cuff is intense, you are consolidating so much fabric from the sleeve into a pretty tight cuff.
I tried on the blouse and the sleeves were too short and the cuff on the narrow width side, I couldn’t button them, plus it was an awkward look. I decided to remove the cuff, which was a bit disappointing, I had spent lots of time gathering that fabric but it had to be done! After the cuff was removed, I sewed a casing and inserted ½” elastic into the casing. I like the look of the elastic casing and the length of the sleeve. I do think I will wear this length of sleeve much more often in the spring and summer.

I had such a fun time making this blouse, it has some unique features and I always enjoy a statement sleeve. Take a look at this beautiful fabric, which comes in 3 other colors. Happy sewing!

#minervabrandambassador #minervamakes #minervamakers #cottonpoplin