Thing 97

Liberty Week continues and today I present to you the very first Liberty Thing I made. (The others have all been made with the scraps left over after this Thing.)

 

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I pulled out the Sorbetto pattern, and based on my last version, made a couple of changes. I added a good inch to the bottom to give it some more length. I also decided to add sleeves using this tutorial. And finally, in order to squeeze a blouse out of the fabric I had, I narrowed the front pleat.

All went swimmingly well. The extra length didn’t throw off the fit, the pleat looked fine in its narrowed width, and the sleeves went in without a hitch.

And then.

Catastrophe.

I was admiring how well the sleeves went in, all on the serger, no puckering, no problems, when I accidentally pushed the serger foot pedal. That machine is a hungry beast. In a split second it devoured my precious Liberty blouse. I almost cried.

I extracted the blouse from the machine to survey the damage and it wasn’t pretty: a three-inch gash across the front.

 

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I didn’t have enough fabric to cut another front (and since the whole blouse, sleeves included, was already assembled with the serger, that ship had sailed anyway).

But ultimately I’m an optimist, and I found two silver linings. First, the blade of the serger sliced the fabric but did not remove any, so I wasn’t dealing with missing fabric. Second, the design of the fabric is a busy one, so any patchwork, if done neatly enough, could be nearly invisible.

I ironed a strip of interfacing along the back side of the gash and then dapped Fray Check all along the front side of the gash.

 

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The result was good. My only fear is how it will hold up in the wash. I’ll need to wash it in a lingerie bag on the gentle cycle, and keep a good eye on how the interfacing is holding up.

 

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I’ve worn this blouse in London — in Liberty, no less! — and it’s been comfortable and wrinkle-free. I think the front of the gash needs another dose of Fray-Check and I may end up hand stitching a more permanent repair.

For now, though, I love my Liberty.

 

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Cost of this Thing: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €149.76

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  4 comments for “Thing 97

  1. Tobi Paton
    April 17, 2014 at 12:20 am

    What a nice recovery! Such a pretty fabric. I have to say that I kind of prefer the shorter length of the other one though.

  2. April 17, 2014 at 5:46 pm

    Maybe it’s a bit matronly? I think I’m going to size the next one down at the waist and go with the original shorter length. Practice will eventually make perfect.

  3. rochelle
    April 18, 2014 at 7:50 pm

    I love it!

  4. April 19, 2014 at 5:50 pm

    I like the longer length 🙂 I had to laugh at your gash; I did that last week too on a hat! There is nothing worse than that moment of horror when you realize what you’ve done.

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