Quick and Simple

I am expecting a visit from my mom and sis soon and my sis has been going on a while now about owning more ‘Stephen Yong’ made clothes and I’ve side stepped the conversation so well I might as well be called Side Step(per)hen! But since this is a very special visit by my family since my father’s passing last year, I shall shower her with love and also garments! And on this occasion, I had the perfect piece of fabric for her.

A while back when I was helping Natalie with making all the gorgeous stuff from her wonderful prints, I was given some remnants from this project. I was a bit hesitant at first as the fabric, even though it was remnants, seems like a piece of artwork and I didn’t feel that I was worthy enough to take them. However, Patrick the pattern cutting maestro in charge of the project, told me to take it as Natalie and him would like to see what I can do with it.

The fabric sat there for a week as I was thinking how best to make something that preserved the print while making something comfortable for my sis to wear. Then as I was browsing for fabric along Berwick Street, I managed to get my hands on this gorgeous black silk georgette chiffon (at a knocked down price of course) and decided to make a simple blouse with the print in the front and the chiffon at the back.

The pattern cutting was very simple as the front and back piece was the same (except the neckline) and I’ve just extended the shoulder line to create a mini sleeve. As this was a very loose-fitting garment (adapted from my T-shirt pattern) with a wide neck line, no darts and fastening were required.

To finish of this very simple blouse, I used bias binding to seal the raw edges while the inside seams are French seamed. A tip to prevent silks from stretching at the neckline is to cut the pattern of the neckline out on thin paper and stitch around the edge with the paper at the bottom for stability. Once this is done, tear away the paper and you will end up with a neckline that will not stretch out of shape when you are sewing the binding on.

I have showed this blouse both to Natalie and my sis and have their seal of approval. Natalie said that I have worked with the print really well and she is happy to see the parrots again as some of the parrots in the print used to be her pets.

Till then, time for the next project. Shamefully, I seem to be sewing much faster than I can write about it.