Butterick B6563 blouse by Gertie

This new blouse pattern, Butterick B6563 by Gertie caught my attention immediately. It is a vintage inspired semi-fitted blouse with options to make either a sleeveless top, capped sleeves or short puffed sleeves.

I decided to make the version B, complete with the breast pocket and the bow tie.

Materials

I found a new online fabric shop called Doughty’s a little while ago and ordered piles of lovely fabrics for my spring wardrobe. The both cotton poplins, the gray with a rose print and the navy blue with white birds were perfect for the blouse but I decided to use the rose print this time. I think that the beige cotton lawn with birds will be a Sew Over It Penny dress but I am still unsure about the green floral poplin and the super sweet pink dog print.

Anyway, back to the Gertie’s blouse pattern…

Sizing

Butterick B6573 blouse comes in two size ranges that are 6 to 14 and 14 to 22. I read somewhere that the sizes run big so I went for the size 8 that is a size smaller that I would normally use. I also compared the pattern pieces to a well fitting blouse pattern that I had which helped me to make my selection. This was a good decision since the size 10 would have been way too big for me.

Sewing and the instructions

I think that this blouse was easy to make and the instructions were good. Self facing meant that there wasn’t any button placket details to worry about and the collar was made without a collar stand. What was even more unusual was that the whole collar was made out of one folded (and interfaced) piece of fabric.

After I had cut the pattern pieces, sewing the blouse took for about a day. There weren’t any particularly difficult parts, so this was a very relaxing project that didn’t require much thinking.

The finished blouse and the pros and the cons

I like both the style and the fit of the finished blouse very much. In the pictures I wear it with my Sandra skirt. The front darts make the blouse feminine but due to the relaxed back the blouse is comfortable to wear every day.

The bow tie is not necessary for the collar to work and you can also open the top button to get this nice notched collar look:

One thing to criticize was that I found it impossible to ease the sleeves in with the amount of length the sleeve heads had. It might have been possible with a more forgiving fabric but my cotton poplin just didn’t settle to the armscyes nicely. Rather than having a ugly puckers around the sleeve caps I gathered the extra ease to the top of the sleeve cap and made my cap sleeves slightly puffed. However, I like the outlook of my finished sleeves, so it didn’t really bother me that much that I had to make this change.

The other thing that I found distracting was the positioning of the breast pocket. It was oddly high and in an awkward angle that just looked odd. (Btw. I didn’t cut my pocket in bias since I did not have a gingham print.) I was unsure about the whole pocket and just left it pinned on up until I had finished the rest of the blouse. After I was able to button the blouse on I positioned the pocket in front of a mirror and then sewed it on.

Anyway, all in all I will definitely use Butterick B6563 blouse pattern again. It is not easy to find fitted blouse patterns that actually fit like they are supposed to (well, even with this you’ll have to go down a size). There are so many different styles and the ease is always something that causes headaches for many garment makers. For anyone interested in making a vintage inspired spring/summer blouse, this is a good pattern to consider!

I thank everyone that have subscribed to this blog! You make me so happy! Sorry about the unfocused images. My son who was taking the photos is still learning how to use the camera. I thank all of you that had patience to read all the way to the end and happy sewing!

Katja