Bootstrapfashion 4261 ruffle blouse < with my hands

This Bootstrapfashion 4261 ruffle blouse is again part of my Sensible Sewing Challenge. It closely resembles the Lekala dress I made last year, except being a bit more fitted and having a key-hole neckline instead of a pleated one. (The Bootstrapfashion and Lekala are both official resellers of Leko patterns, so that’s the reason behind similarities.)

If you are not yet familiar with Bootstrapfashion patterns, they are sewing patterns that are customized to your measurements. You’ll submit your measurements and your pattern arrives as a pdf in a few minutes. My experience with these patterns has been a bit hit and miss. The more basic pattern the greater the chances of getting something that works. Collars tend to be a bit big and the patterns that have more unusual pleats and wraps have not worked for me at all. However, these patterns come very cheaply so a few failed patterns have not angered me too much. In the single case of an obvious sizing mistake, they have corrected the pattern quickly.

This time the fit was spot on. The original pattern has a side zipper and a seam at the centre back but I figured out that I could slide into the top even without the zipper and left it out. The centre back seam was just unnecessary. Perhaps it is necessary for someone curvier than I am.

I found this viscose fabric in the factory remnants. It is a bit heavier than your normal viscose fabric and feels slightly harder. The weave shows much clearer on the fabric than what is usual for viscose. However, the fabric was very nice to work with. It was much less shifty than viscose tends to be and it takes pressing really well. Also, I did not have any problems with pulling threads which sometimes happens with fluid fabrics.

As I have made a very similar dress I did not even bother to look at the instructions. Instead of using bias binding, I finished the key-hole opening with a facing. Similarly to my Lekala flounce dress, I finished the ruffle edges with the serger rolled hem. I replaced the ties at the neckline with simple hook-and-eye closure.

I really recommend this pattern. Unlike most of the ruffle tops, this flounce doesn’t have a gathered edge so it is very easy to stitch on. There are no sleeves, so no tedious sleeve fitting is needed. It also fits very nicely with my Rosie skirt. Normally combining two patterned fabrics would not work but this time the fabrics have similar colours.

This is the one skirt that used to be too big and had a thread pulled across the front. One day, as I was watching a movie with my kids, I managed to rip out the waistband and take out the damaged skirt panel. I had enough fabric left so I cut a new panel and then, after sewing it in place, shortened the waistband to fit me better.

I am really hoping that the weather forecast is correct and that the weather will cool soon! The grass has yellowed out in the forest and I was amazed to see wild succulents growing at the top of the rocky hill behind our house. They have probably always been there, buried underneath the green vegetation, but now they are filling up the space left by the dried grass. Other things that I have been observing lately in the forest are the bats that live in the nearby WWI bunkers. They come out after sunset and fly around catching insects just behind our house. Last night I went to a little clearing nearby and spend quite some time observing them.