This is another of those ‘wearable toile‘ experiments…

I took a pattern-cutting class a number of years ago. While I didn’t complete it, I did create a block (or sloper) pattern; essentially turning the 3D me into a 2D pattern (complete with just enough ease so I can move my arms, natch).

This was the toile; a basic mock-up in cheap fabric to find out if my pattern-drafting attempts actually, you know, worked. The basics were sewn, just enough to try it on.

Fellow students nodded approvingly. Apparently it suited me and the fit was (surprisingly, if I’m honest) pretty good. And so, I was charged with turning it into a finished garment.

I carefully hung on it a hanger and put it aside until I could work out how to complete it .. for a year, then another year, then another…

I can’t actually remember how long this blouse has been an unfinished object (UFO). I found it surprisingly hard to make decisions on how to complete it without any pattern instructions (and with only a limited amount of fabric left to do so.

(Yeah, I was a wuss.)

In the end I slightly cheated, and stole an idea from Vogue:

And voila; when I need a go-to grown-up blouse, it’s hanging up in my wardrobe.