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I am Orion blouse with a hack

This is my second time trying out I am patterns. I chose I am Orion blouse that is a loose fitted boxy blouse with a Peter Pan collar. I liked the style of the Sirius top I made earlier so I was quite sure that both the style and the fit would be nice on me. The pattern also comes with the dress option but I didn’t try that out, yet.

The pattern is available both in a printed form as in a pdf file, which is the format I chose. The sizes go from 36 to 46, but since they are French sizes they are smaller than the standard European sizes. I again went for the size 38, which was perfect for me.

The fabric

Some months ago I picked these dark blue and white pique-like fabrics that I knew would suit perfectly for this style. The fabrics are probably polyester and drape beautifully. I went for the practical dark blue for the blouse. However, I wanted to emphasise the collar and make it white but I had a problem: I was worried that the white collar would catch colour in wash and turn to dull light blue. I made a little wash test and still wasn’t convinced. So, I decided not to risk it and make a detachable collar instead.

Sewing the blouse

The pattern comes with both French and English instructions. They have a lot of images to explain the different steps which is great. I did not really pay much attention to the instructions since this top was quite simple to construct and because I did the collar differently.

I am Orion, neckline finishing.

To finish the blouse neckline I cut a long bias strip and stitched it to the neckline. I then turned the bias strip and the seam allowance against the wrong side of the neckline folding the other edge of the bias strip under the seam allowance. I pinned the edge, basted it with hand (the slippery fabric did not stay nicely folded without the basting) and sewed it in place. Instead of three snaps I only used two to close the buttoning placket. Without the collar the blouse looks like this:

I am Orion blouse without the collar.

The detachable collar/dickey

For the detachable collar I cut the collar from the white pique and interfaced two of the four pieces. Then I drew the neckline from the front and back pattern pieces and cut a dickey part out of the same fabric. I decided to stiffen the dickey by making it out of two layers and used white cotton lawn for the one underneath.

I am Orion dickey hack.

To make sure that my fake collar stayed in place I added two sew on snaps at the shoulder seams that attach to the dickey. The back of the dickey also has a hook and eye closure.

So now the blouse has a collar that should stay white:

I am Orion blouse.

And if I spill something on my white collar, off it goes (Sorry about the weird eyes! My camera battery died at this point…):

The I am Orion detachable dickey hack.

The conclusions

I really love this blouse. It feels super comfortable but is still chic. The darts give the loose fitted Orion a bit definition but the look is still modern and minimalistic. The Peter Pan collar adds a bit of vintage vibe without making the blouse costumey. The sleeves drape beautifully. (For anyone wondering, the sleeves are a bit puffy at the shoulders since I did not iron them properly. I sort of liked how they looked so I decided to leave the ironing for now at least.) Now that I have worn it with a dark blue skirt I can also have some sort of idea on how the dress version might look on me.

I am Orion blouse from the back.

All in all, I can recommend this pattern for everyone. It is not suitable for absolute beginners but if you have any sewing experience this is a piece of cake for you!

I hope you liked this post and thank you for reading it! Do subscribe to make following my sewing adventures easier in the future! Happy sewing!

 

Katja

 

 

I am a mother of two. I sew, knit and create and blog about it.

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