Dithering

After this past week, it's easy to see why I disappear from the blog world. The projects I've been working on have had serious glitches and I've been dithering about what to do with them. Let me give you a recent example.

Last Friday was my birthday. As Birthday Queen, I claimed the right to sew for me on my day. As I was knee deep in other things (like pattern drafting), I wanted a short, simple project. 

Silhouette Patterns #600, the basic blouse, has been in my queue for awhile. Peggy Sagers has several podcasts featuring this blouse. Have you seen her podcasts? They're great. I've learned so much from them. I'm a big fan of Peggy's.

Alas, the first basic blouse podcast, the one where Peggy demonstrates how to fit this pattern, is currently unavailable. Their broadcast technology has changed and this old one must be giving them problems. I hope it comes back, or they redo it, because it was great.

In a more recent podcast, Peggy constructs this blouse, including cutting it out, in an hour. And she isn't even rushed. When the session ended, all she had left to do were the hems and buttonholes/buttons. 

I really, really wanted to love this blouse. I knew that once I tweaked the fit, the whole series of shirt/blouse patterns would open up to me as Peggy uses the same basic block for them all. 

But this pattern is so homely on me. The neck does not come anywhere close to my neckline, it goes halfway up my throat. The garment doesn't skim my body - it hangs from me in a way that waist darts could never cure. The armscye is too low, and the sleeves seriously restrict my arm movement. 

I could adjust this pattern but would be more than tweaking. And the style of the basic blouse isn't appealing enough for me to want to put in the time. As a zippity-quick top, it was fine. For extended fitting work, not so much. 

Other patterns fit me better, with less work. As much as I admire the Silhouette philosophy, I don't seem to fit their body type. I wanted to love it. Dang.