Sewing Saturday time! Lately, I've been on a reinvent-the-vintage-in-your-closet kick and this week is no exception. You may remember my last project had to do with a vintage silk maxi (read it here), and this weekend's project has a similar style with some pretty major changes - rather than do away with the sleeves, I decided to keep the sleeves and create shoulder cutouts (similar to this UO top) with an early 90s silk blouse and some handmade bias tape. I also shortened the blouse to give it a loose crop top style and cut the front shorter than the back for a draped effect.
What you need for this project.. a blouse in a lightweight fabric like silk, rayon, viscose or a light knit and some 1/4 inch double folded bias tape. The blouse can be short or long sleeved, so long as you know the sleeve length drops when you cut out the shoulders (therefore you might have to shorten the sleeves a little). I made my own bias tape but you can buy your own here (or at any craft store) in a matching hue, or add a different color tape to your blouse for some interest.
First step.. cut out your shoulders. Using fabric chalk, I marked an opening about 8 inches wide and 4 inches deep. Before you cut, mark where the opening will be and try on your blouse (to give you an idea of where the opening will sit on your shoulders) - if you like the look, cut away. I tried mine on and wanted it a little higher towards the collar, so I ended up with an opening that began two inches away from the neckline.
Next, I cut the bottom at a diagonal with the back center 3 or 4 inches longer than the front center.
Using the extra fabric from the bottom that I cut from the blouse, I made bias tape. I pulled the fabric to see which direction stretched the most (indicating the fabric is on the bias), then I cut 1 inch wide diagonal strips on the bias. Here is a great tutorial on making your own bias tape. If you have pre-made tape, you can skip this part.
Once the bias tape is ready, it's time to sew it to the shoulder cutouts, sandwiching the raw edge between the folds of tape.
Hem the blouse and it's done!
That's all for this week's project.. hope it comes in handy for you guys!
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