Bow Collar Blouse

去年のちょうど今頃、カリフォルニアに行った時に紀伊国屋に行って、茅木真知子さんの「ドレスアップ・ドレスダウン」という洋裁の本を買いました。

この本の最初にのっていた、ノースリーブのブラウスをつくってみました。布はディアンドルのエプロンの残りの布。

ちなみにポーズに意味はなし。もちろんまだ肌寒いので実際に着るのはまだお預け。

日本の洋裁の型紙で裁縫することがめったにないので、いまだに用語に慣れません。っていうか、洋裁用語がイマイチわかりません。でもわかりやすい図が乗っているので作り方は読むっていうより、絵を見て想像する、という感じです。オリジナルは背中にボタンがついてるんだけど（ボタンダウンのシャツを前後ろで着た感じ）、ボタンをつけずに縫い上げてスリットを入れて被って着れるようにしました。

この本、とても好き。どの服もシンプルなんだけど、シンプルゆえにどれもそろえておきたい感じ。

When we visited California last March, I stopped by Kinokuniya (Japanese book store) and picked up a Japanese sewing book called Simple Chic Dress Up Dress Down by Machiko Kayaki. 1 year later, I finally sewed a garment from the book. I made the first garment in the book, a bow collar blouse. It is a simple sleeveless shell with a scarf collar.

The book comes with patterns for 3 sizes: 9, 11, 13. Basically they are the Japanese Small, Medium, and Large. I made a size 11. I am a typical Medium in Japan. Though I can read Japanese, I'm not familiar with sewing terminology, so it felt kind of funny to follow sewing instruction in Japanese.

The original blouse actually has a button closure at the back (imagine backwards shirt), but since I don't want to feel buttons on my back (do I sit on office chair too much?), I sewed up the center back (with some back contouring) and left a keyhole opening so that I can put it over my head. The top of the center back is closed with a hook and eye.

The fabric is a left over silk dupioni from my dirndl apron.

The collar extends as a long tie, and since it is a single layer, the raw edges need to be finished. I decided to try my rolled hem skill and used my rolled hem foot for the first time.

I really like how it worked. I was too lazy to do a practice run, and just went with it. It made a really dainty tiny rolled hem. I liked it so much that I finished my hem with this rolled hem as well.

I need to lower the bust darts and wast position and also the center back. You can see in the above photo that the key hole opening in the back wants to come down and gape open. But I like the kind of dramatic effect of the tie collar and the luster of the fabric.