I sewed the Edwardian Blouse by Black Snail Patterns

I have been eyeing this pattern by Black Snail Patterns for a while and I finally couldn’t resist it as those voluminous sleeves of the Edwardian blouse just screamed “Sew me!” As it has happened several times this year, I found a perfect fabric (a pair of curtains) in a local thrift store and it cost only a few euros. This white cotton or cotton-blend fabric was just perfect, a little transparent, and had tiny white polka dots to add some interest to it.

Here is the video on the making of the blouse. More details on the pattern down below the video!

This pattern has two versions, one with a peplum hem and long sleeves with cuffs and one with a gathered hem and shorter 3/4 sleeves with ruffles. I chose the second option. The blouse comes in European sizes 34-56 (US 8-30). I was between the sizes 36 and 38 but chose the smaller as my shoulders are narrow and the blouse was pretty loose in shape.

I did a few adjustments to the pattern. First, I fitted the shoulders like I always do and then made the yoke slightly bigger. After making my daughter’s Edwardian bodice, I was so fond of horizontal tucks at the sleeves that I used the same detail for this blouse, too. Finally, I lowered the collar slightly as it was very high for me.

I like the instruction given by the Black Snail Patterns. They are text-heavy and not as detailed as your big-4 patterns but they teach you to make garments the historical way and I always learn something new. Even though I may have skipped some of the instructions, I still learned some sewing tricks I had never heard about before despite my years of sewing. For instance, using twill tape to both make and support the buttoning bands was genius! I will definitely use this method in the future.

I used three different kinds of lace to decorate the blouse. The vertical lace at the yoke is the bulkiest of them. Both the cuff lace and the lace circling the yoke and the collar are similar in weight but have different widths. I also added a small lace motif to decorate the center front of the blouse because it looked so empty without any focal point.

I am super happy with how this blouse turned out. The fabric makes it look almost ethereal and it definitely doesn’t look like a pair of old curtains! As it is white, I can combine it with any of my walking skirts and wear it both with or without period underwear (read: corset).

I got this blouse ready already at the beginning of May but it took me this long to get the video edited. I hope you liked the outcome! Thank you for reading and please help me to grow my channel by subscribing to it! Happy sewing!

Katja