Welcome to Part 2 of my work wardrobe exploration. Today I’m sharing the Pussy Bow Blouse from Sew Over It. This isn’t a term you hear used in America for blouses very often. In England, where Sew Over It is, I guess it’s pretty common. I’m sure they know this, as they have tons of American fans. It must give them a giggle, like when we say “fanny pack.”

I’m just thrilled with the fit of this blouse! I made two pattern adjustment before I started, based on the fit of other Sew Over It patterns. The first was a full-bicep adjustment from this tutorial from Helen’s Closet.  The second was a broad shoulder adjustment, also from a Helen’s closet tutorial.  The pattern doesn’t have bust darts, but the finished bust size was 4″ larger than their other patterns, so I figured that would fit, and it did.

I love, love, love the long bow! This is variation 1 with the bow up high at the neck. I didn’t splurge on fabric because I hadn’t made a sample and done sight-unseen adjustments. Not sure what I was thinking as I wore this to work once and thought the pattern really WAS NOT my style.  Good to know, though, that if I’m going to do a print, it has to be very, very small, or without much contrast from the main color.

The fit across the back was great. For once, I didn’t add length to the sleeve, as lately I’ve been pushing up the sleeves on all my SOI makes.  Still, the sleeves turned out quite long and I would take some length off next time.

Constructing the sleeve cuffs was a real pfaff, as they’d say in England.  I made teensy weensy rouleaux loops for the buttons to go in. This made the shirt very Victorian, as I can’t button them by myself.

I can’t wait to make another one of these. I’ll definitely be splurging on the fabric next time! -rp