On the Sleeveless Blouse and the Pedal Pushers: A Tale of Two Misfits That Came Together to Make an Outfit

Way back in April I mentioned here plans to make a few sleeveless blouses from McCall's 3732 and shortly after I began making version C (upper right).
 

While putting the pattern together went extremely well, I finally came to the point of trying it on only to discover the armholes were not at all large enough. In fact, they were so tight I almost couldn’t get my arm in all the way. Armholes aren’t all that complicated to fix if too small, but being me I decided that I’d try making the adjustment without taking apart the side seams. Two hours and a half later (as opposed to the 20 minutes it might have taken) I had fixed my problem and the blouse was finished shortly after.

However, then came the problem of having nothing with a high-waist would even remotely match with it (Neon green shorts with my 1950’s blouse? I think not!). The solution: pedal pushers!

Sometime last month I finally got up the courage to try making Simplicity 2836 and, unfortunately, decided to use poly poplin since it was inexpensive meaning that if something went wrong I wouldn’t feel too badly. The pattern I could only find in a size smaller or larger than I needed, but this ended up being a nice opportunity to learn some pattern adjustment techniques that I’m happy to say will be used again. As to the fabric, poly poplin, I found, does not press well and this made it very difficult to get the waist band and cuffs to look right.


The lapped side ended up smaller
and I couldn't unpick it without making a hole. 

Upon completion, I went to try them on and, much to my chagrin, they ended up resting a full two inches lower than where they should have been (the practice pair did not have this problem)! Darts went in and they now fit much better, although not as well as I would have hoped.

And now that you’ve read all that went into making them I bring you the outfit created by two misfits:



 

While the first blouse put a damper on my ideas for making more right away and the pedal pushers left me feeling a bit cranky, I can honestly say I really like both of the patterns and will at some point be returning to them. Some things I will keep in mind, though, such as taking out a seam saves time, poly poplin is not a good choice for a first attempt (or any for that matter) at making pants no matter how inexpensive it is, and absolutely no waist adjustment for future attempts on Simplicity 2836!♥