Sewing: Little Red Riding Hood Blouse

It has always made me feel a bit anxious when retail stores and catalogs roll out their clothing a whole quarter ahead of season--seems I am just warming up to summer when I find the shopping aisles crowded with sweaters for Fall! (I just received a "Spring Preview" catalog in the mail. What!!?) Well, now I am wishing I were using a bit of that strategy as I feel a month or two behind the season with my clothing creation! How I wish I could stop time for a bit and catch up (and not just with the clothing)! Instead I seem to try and squeeze in one more summer sewing project for the girls to wear, oh in mid-September or so, and then it's suddenly October and I haven't started knitting or crocheting all the sweaters on my list, let alone sewn some Fall dresses. I hate to give in and buy things because it's so much more fun to make them, but sometimes it can't be helped.  

So when I found this jumper dress at Janie and Jack I thought it would be the perfect compromise. I could buy it and then quickly make a blouse for Audrey to wear underneath. Quicker than sewing an entire dress.

I opened my fabric stash drawer to see if I had anything that would work. I was thinking of using some of the Japanese prints I bought last Fall and haven't yet used, but they weren't quite right. Then I pulled out this beautiful "Little Red" fabric. Perfect! I bought one yard of it this summer thinking of a dress for Scarlett, but as is so common for me, ran out of time. I was saving it for next year but decided it would be perfect as a blouse for Audrey!

Isn't it the cutest? I love that the big, bad wolf looks more like a cute little "wolfie"--a pet rather than nemesis. It feels a bit like a blouse I'd find in a little french children's boutique, had I the chance to go to one!

 

The fabric is designed by Tasha Noel of A Little Sweetness and I purchased it from her Etsy shop. It's a Spoonflower quilting weight fabric and the first I've ever purchased. I was happy when I received the package in the mail but fell in love when I started working with it. The quality is so fabulous--super silky and irons beautifully.

 

I can't believe I ended up matching the pattern this perfectly along the front placket--pure luck!

I used two patterns to make the shirt (seems impossible to find classic patterns such as a long-sleeved, peter pan collared blouse doesn't it?): New Look 6880 for the basic blouse pattern and New Look 6309 for a long sleeve. I chose to gather the sleeves for a break from all the tailoring in this outfit and love how they turned out.

Luckily, Audrey loves the blouse too!

Now on to some more Fall/Winter projects...