Tropical silk blouse refashion and pattern design how-to

It might seem like I have been raiding my mom's closet lately but not really. She had another item she was going to donate but I thought the fabric was beautiful so away it came with me. It was a dress that was really a top and wrap skirt. I converted the top to this little sleeveless tank as an example for a Craftsy post.

The post for Craftsy is based on their class One Pattern Many Looks: Blouses. I thought it was a really useful and interesting class. The teacher is very clear and easy to follow the steps for the various tops she created.  I like the way that you use a basic shirt pattern (as opposed to a bodice sloper) to adapt to different tops so I have several others in the pipeline based on a basic Simplicity button front shirt pattern. You can use any basic shirt pattern so if you have one that already fits so you can use that. (Like the Archer shirt which so many have, or the Simplicity Amazing fit shirt pattern I used) Any darted front shirt pattern will work.

It looks like a simple top but there are some little details - the bust darts on the original shirt pattern are actually shifted to be shoulder gathers. If you are interested in all the details take a look at my post on Craftsy today. Lots of information on the pattern manipulation and more photos of the details.

There is a cowl neck blouse shown in the class, I am going to do that version using the leftover silk knit from this dress. It will be a perfect top to wear under blazer jackets. 

Coming up soon, a tunic top that I made from some very precious Milly fabric I ordered from Gorgeous Fabric. Precious as I ordered a very small amount on a whim and once it was in my hands it had to be a long-sleeve tunic top. As Tim Gunn says - I made it work.

Aloha and happy sewing, Beth