Yesterday I showed you the start on Molly’s blouse that I was making her. If you missed that post you can see it HERE. I finished everything on the blouse except for the hem, but I didn’t like the way the sleeves looked…a bit too long and droopy at the bottom.
Several ladies said they thought the sleeves looked fine, but that perfectionism in me wouldn’t let me leave them alone. It’s not much fun to take something apart, but I knew I would never be happy with them the way they were, so here is what I did…
Actually before I show you, I wanted to thank Diana Jenness, one of my subscribers, for giving me an idea. She said maybe I could stuff the sleeves with tulle or tissue paper. I remembered what I used to do (back in the 70’s) to hold up pinafore ruffles over sleeves… add a sleeve header out of tulle or organza.
Now I’ll show you what I did…in sort of a “mini tutorial…”
I did trim about 1/8″ off each sleeve and tapered the end of each sleeve about 1/2″ shorter.
Here is a picture showing you the difference in how the header makes the blouse look.
I took a strip of tulle about 12″ long, folded it over, ran two rows of basting down the edge and gathered it up. Then I added it to the inside seam of the top of the sleeve cap.
Okay, now both sleeves are done and it was time to finish the blouse. I added a perky little peplum to the hem. It is below where the waistline hits so it won’t be bulky, but will help hold out the skirt just a tiny bit.
I got the skirt and the waistband cut out but they are just pinned onto Molly’s body…you’ll have to use your imagination once again to see how it will look in the end… (sorry about my messy cutting table…)
So…do you think it will be a sweet little Back to School set? I sure hope so…
I’ve got 2 meetings with people today and my son asked if he could come over and fix us dinner tonight, (Shrimp Scampi!) so I don’t know if I’ll get this done again today or not…but I’ll keep plodding along on it. Some weeks are just too busy for dolly play… :o(
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
I am finally back from our little junket to Branson! We had a terrible internet reception in our room, so I couldn’t get anywhere with the computer. I just gave up till we got home. I see you have picked an adorable pattern for Molly, Jeanne, and I love how it turned out! That was so clever about the tulle making the sleeves puff out—it worked perfectly!
I’m not sure what you have left to do on the outfit, but I think 3 or so little black buttons on the blouse at the center would be cute. Are you putting buttons on the waistband below the suspenders?
That Rueben! My kitties would do that too, to the toilet paper, and Sophie would love to get inside my paper shopping bags and pounce on them, just for the sound I guess. So cute! Just wait until Christmas comes along with wrapping paper!
Hi Linda,
Welcome back from Branson! Even though you had no internet, I hope you had fun otherwise…
Well, I’m not finished with Molly’s set yet, but hopefully soon. I am going to put buttons on the or the straps…
We used to put the cats in a paper bag…or rather just let them find the paper bag and there is almost nothing more fun than watching them play in it! Reuben would probably just tear up the bag…His favorite thing to chew on the empty water bottles without the lids… he loves to hear them crackle and crunch…
Maybe he won’t be a puppy at Christmas…. I can always hope…
Thanks Linda and again, welcome back…
Blessings, Jeanne
I didn’t see a thing wrong with her sleeves until I saw them fixed. I suppose that’s not surprising since I don’t sew. It sure will make me look at things differently from here on out though and I’m wondering…is that perfectionism thing a blessing or a curse. I bet you’ve wondered the same thing a few times. I’m gonna say it’s a blessing. It makes you who you are and makes your creations some of the most amazing available!!
Hugs for Reuben
HI Bobi,
I’m glad you could see a difference in the sleeves after I had fixed them.. Yes, sometimes being so perfectionistic can be a problem… when I was in high school and college, and would go into the fabric stores, they called me “eagle eye!” I’m not sure it was a compliment, but I could spot a flaw in the fabric a mile away…
Thanks so much for your very kind words… I do appreciate them…
Blessings, Jeanne
Genius, Jeanne! That little extra poof adds extra cuteness. I like your idea with the peplum too. I’ve always thought of peplums as a design element not for an actual purpose. Your dolls always have their dresses fitting perfectly. It makes a difference, doesn’t it?
Thanks for sharing Reuben’s antics, so cute!
Wishing you a great weekend!
HI Cindy,
Thanks so much for your kind compliments on Molly’s blouse… I was hoping to get it finished, but it’s now 8 p.m. and I just finished dinner with Kristoffer… I have dishes to do, but want to sew… so I’m debating if I sew now will I reget doing dishes on Saturday morning…
Ugh…such is the life of a seamstress…
Thanks Cindy,
I hope you have a wonderful weekend too…
Blessings, Jeanne
The tulle does really make a difference…wish I had seen this last week..I made a puffy sleeved dress and it didn’t “puff” enough so I did add some polyfil which worked but didn’t seem too professional. I will remember this for sure. I like the way you finished the blouse with the little flounce…it will work with lots of other skirts or pants too
Have a good weekend!
Thank you Kathie,
Sorry about being one week too late on my tutorial for blouse sleeves… It really did help the sleeves in the best possible way…
I liked the little peplum too, and do think it would look cute on the outside with some pants too…
Thanks Kathie,
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne, I like how you fixed the sleeves. The tulle does make a difference. I hadn’t seen the peplum idea before–It really does help.
Keep up your excellent work.
Diana
HI Diana,
Thank YOU for helping me remember about the sleeve headers out of tulle… It was just what these sleeves needed.
Thanks for your sweet compliments and I hope to keep things interesting for you all…
Blessings, Jeanne