Sandra Betzina's Today's Fit Vogue 7903 Blouse

Vogue 7903 - aka "the blouse that took forever to sew!" I love the FINAL result, but jeepers - a little on the time-consuming side!

The styling is so cute - the notched cuffs, the notched collar, the nice long back darts. A definite step above your average short-sleeved camp shirt blouse.

But -- the front darts-side and center. What a PITA! This pattern runs large under the armholes, yet a little tighter near the waistline/hip. I had to move the side bust dart up 1" and remove the center dart of the three vertical front darts altogether.

I already knew to automatically add 3 inches to the front and back length. It was definitely needed, and I was still able to keep a 3/4" hem allowance.

The short sleeves themselves ran long. I pinched out and stitched a 1/4" tuck, which was covered by the foldback cuff, in order to shorten it 1/2 inch and bring to a less dowdy and awkward length. The pattern drawing shows it a little shorter than reality - it hit the top of a rather long-distanced reach to the crook of my elbow, for goodness sakes. The look on my daughter's face and her voice - "it looks...(pause)...okaaay" had me running back to the sewing room to tuck it up.

With this much time invested, I still plan to make it again in my white fabric, my original intention to have something to wear with the Burda WOF skirt. I'll wear it tomorrow to see if it needs any additional tweaking. I'll also try the longer sleeved version with the French cuffs.

This pattern is worth the extra effort and time. I hope Sandra creates more blouses! They are stylishly different and interesting.

Are these not the perfect "beachy" buttons? Style #87224, 3/4"...and affordable, too - $1.20 for the card of 3.

Previous blog post entry on August 23 --

I whipped up a trial run this morning of Sandra Betzina's Vogue 7903 and am excited about pursuing it further in a nicer fabric. There's something to be said about a pattern from 2004 which is still in the current catalog!

I need a blouse/top to wear with my Burda WOF May 2009 Skirt #104. Love the skirt, but not the tops/blouses I currently have in my closet. I'm hoping a blouse from this pattern will be a perfect fashion match.