Here are photos of this fabulously-designed La Mode Illustree blouse. The body-construction is combined with that of the sleeves – with front and back center-pieces that also form shoulder-yokes.
At first glance, you might think “Aaaaaahhh!” (as in a scream of fright), but don’t be alarmed – it’s really a well-planned garment. There is quite a bit of fabric cut on the bias, so it’s a good idea to plan for that.
My photos show full-size and half-scale pattern pieces cut out with the fabric. Also, you’ll see my plan for marking the tiny pleats of the half-scale blouse (sewing through paper and both pieces of fabric – then, I’ll remove the stitching to reveal perforations for folding pleats). There’s also a closeup of the detachable collar, which conveniently buttons at center back-neck.
It’s wonderful to see such a beautifully-visualized garment. I’m excited about stitching the half-scale toile.
Blouse 0219 VPLL 1912 La Mode Illustree Half-Scale. Photo – Toile La La.
VPLL 1912 La Mode Illustree Blouse 219 Collar – Half-Scale.
Photo – Toile La La.
VPLL 1912 La Mode Illustree Blouse 219 – full and half-scale layout.
Photo – Toile La La.
Hi, I will be interested to see your resulting garment from this pattern. It looks rather different in proportion than what I’m used to in blouse patterns. I’m also thinking doing the half size garments first is a great idea!
Maggy
Admiring the intelligent design of this 1912 blouse, I began to wonder if most of today’s shirt-cutting layouts evolved to enable mass-production. We are more familiar with a separate front, back, and sleeves… which aren’t normally cut on the bias.
At first, I thought this blouse would require more fabric (with the large all-in-one front-back-and-sleeve being cut on the bias), but the design may actually be fabric-conservative.
I’ve found preliminary half-scale toile construction to be an informative and expedient way to make a pattern assessment. It’s usually easier to experiment with a pattern this way – solving any problems – then tackling the full-size garment and making size alterations at that point.
Pingback: Clever Vintage Blouse Construction…and a Grand Bell Hat: VPLL. « dressesandhats·