VPLL 0191 Blouse - Beginnings

I've been tinkering with another pattern from the 1912 Project, this one the 0191 blouse. 

I think I've got a handle on it now, and I'm looking forward to getting some work done on it this weekend. 

I'm using the striped silk I posted last week, found in the Deep Stash, and an ivory poly satin (quite drapy and not very poly-looking) for the contrast (the collar, cuffs and sleeve seam trim).  It's going to look very cream-sicle, which may or may not be historically accurate, but I'm not going for complete accuracy here.

As will be seen when I show off the immaculate invisible zipper in my blouse.  Invisible zipper . . . not very 1912, but (a) I didn't want to mess up the chevron stripes down the back with a row of buttons, and (b) we don't have ladies' maids anymore to get us in and out of our clothes. 

It's a very discreet invisible zipper, running from the left hem up under the left arm, opening at the bottom.  The stripes do a much sharper chevron down the side seams, and somehow I dumb-lucked the stripes into matching over the zipper.  You know I couldn't have managed that on a dare if I'd been trying to insert the zip in the back.

All this work and I'm not even keeping the blouse.  It's a beautiful piece, and I'm loving the fabric, but I'll never wear it.  The princess slip can be a summer dress or one hell of a nightie, but this . . . it's always going to look like I'm wearing great-grandma's clothes.  It doesn't suit my body or my life, so I found someone who it would work for.  A friend of mine is an actress, and she has the life (and social life) that requires interesting clothes.  And she's a redhead, which will look fabulous with the creamsicle silk.  She's also smaller than I am, so I didn't have to do much in the way alterations other than lengthening it by 2.5" - all these clothes seem really short-waisted, and my friend's height seems to be mostly in her waist, so I'm hoping this will be long enough for her.

All I've done at this point is press and stitch the front pleats, insert the zipper and sew the back seam.  I'll have time to work on it tomorrow and there will be proper photos then.