The Rhapsody Blouse

Pattern - Love Notions' Rhapsody Blouse
Skill Rating - Intermediate
Fabric - Rayon from Fabricland
Skills - French seams, bias tape making, burrito method for yokes.
Pattern links and videos - Bias binding, burrito method for yokes, hemming with a narrow hemming foot.

When Tami Meyer announced that she was going to test with a woven blouse, I knew I wanted that pattern and lucky for me I was chosen to be a tester!  I wanted a loose woven blouse for the summer heat and the design that Tami posted looked perfect.  But as a staunch member of the "Bat Wing Brigade" I had to have sleeves! Now if there's one thing that Love Notions patterns have, it's lots of options and that usually means lots of sleeve choices.  The Rhapsody Blouse has 8 - sleeveless, cap, short, flutter, 3/4, 3/4 with flare, bishop and trumpet - you certainly get your money's worth with a Love Notions pattern!

I chose the 3/4 sleeve which has a cuff.  The body and sleeves are nice and loose, which is perfect for hot weather - and my "experienced" body! The lines of this garment are flattering with the curved hemline and gathering at the front where it meets the yoke.

There is a nice, wide pleat at the back under the yoke - lots of room!  The burrito method used for attaching the yoke gives you clean tidy seams inside the blouse.

One of the things that really sets this blouse apart from the pack is the french seams!  The instructions in the pattern are very clear and easy to follow - and as usual with Love Notions patterns, there are videos to help you with techniques that you might not be familiar with.

The side and sleeve seams are french seams, which results in a very tidy professional look on the inside of the blouse.  As Tami says in the introduction - the inside looks as nice as the outside.

The other new thing with this pattern is the bias binding.  The pattern recommends you not use bought binding because it's made from quilting cotton.  It's actually not hard at all to make your own and Tami includes a link on page 5 of the instructions to how you can make your own from a square of your fabric.  1.25" strips made perfect double-fold bias tape for my 12mm tape maker.

My daughter-in-law was really taken with the cap-sleeve version of this pattern and so I thought I'd try out a wider bias tape on it.

The pattern says you can also use a 3/4" tape maker, but I didn't have that at the time, so I used my 25mm maker.  A 14" square gave me more than enough 1/2" double fold bias tape which was easier to make and apply on this XS size.  This would be an excellent alternative for anyone who is nervous of the narrow tape.

There are a number of new skills for a lot of us with this pattern, but the directions are clear and the videos and bias tape link are huge helps.  The variety of sleeve lengths has something for everyone, the loose bodice is perfect for summer and sizes run from XS to XXXL.  Don't let the new skills make you hesitate with this wonderful pattern.  It's one that you will love and you'll definitely want to make more!

And here's where you can get it - Love Notions' Rhapsody Blouse

Making Pleats - with a fork???

Pattern - Prisma from Love Notions
Fabric - unknown polyester knit from Fabricland
Skill - pleating with a fork

I did promise to show how to make pleats with a fork, didn't I!  When we were testing, our designer, Tami Meyer, found a video on making pleats with a fork.  It looked so ingenious, I wanted to try it out.  Of course, your fork must be the right size!  My fork was slightly less than an inch in width which was the perfect width to make the 1" pleat that the Prisma pleated skirt calls for.

When you have your skirt piece ready, reserve the first half inch for the side seam.  Set your sewing machine to a basting stitch and secure a couple of stitches in place. Start with the fork facing you and slide the fabric in between a couple of tines - as shown above.

Now turn the fork towards yourself (counter clockwise) until it's flat on the sewing machine.  This creates your pleat.

Slide the pleat towards your half-inch mark.  Subsequent pleats will slide up beside to the pleat before as shown above.  While you are sliding the pleat into place, make sure that the pleat is square and the edge of your fabric is straight across the right side.

Now continue the basting stitch along, catching the pleat with a couple of stitches.  Then stop to make the next pleat.

Continue catching the fabric with the fork, turning the fork to create the pleat and stitching to secure the pleat until you have come to the end of the fabric.

This is not the most exact way to make pleats, but it's certainly quick!  No marking - except possibly for the first half inch.  I found a number of videos on the Internet, but most of them formed pleats in the opposite direction which I discovered sometimes caught on the sewing machine's foot.  And if you find yourself sewing lots of pleats, there are even tools for this.  Using a fork is just so much more fun!

Love Notions' Prisma - with a woven skirt?

Pattern - Love Notions Prisma
Fabric - l'oiseau fabrics - Solids Basic charcoal,  Fabricland - woven rayon
Skill - pleats

 Love Notions' new Prisma - a drop-waisted dress for girls.  Versatile in the extreme, Prisma offers 3 sleeve lengths, 3 neck options and A-line, flared and pleated skirts in sizes 2T to 16.  I was assigned the pleated skirt option with a scoop neck.  During the testing process a question was asked about the skirt - could it be made from woven fabric?  I immediately thought, "Yes!"  Provided the fabric chosen was appropriate, there was no reason that it wouldn't work and I decided to give it a try.

My chosen fabrics were cotton/spandex knit from l'oiseau fabrics for the bodice and short sleeves with a woven rayon for the pleated skirt.

The pattern piece for the skirt is very clearly marked and in no time at all the pleats were pinned into place.  You can find a video tutorial for making the pleats on the Love Notions website.  A half inch space is left open at each end so that the front and back of the skirt can be joined.  Later I learned of another way to make the pleats - a method involving a fork!  But that is a post for another time.

Now to the sewing machine.  With a long basting stitch, I sewed the pleats down taking care the pleats weren't disturbed on the back side.

Using a woven for the skirt worked out extremely well - no stretch at all and the skirt fits perfectly to the bodice piece.

Next step - pin the skirt to the bodice front, right sides together.

On to the serger - serge the seam.  Then repeat for the other skirt and back bodice pieces.

After the front and back have been joined at the shoulder, the sleeves have been serged in place and the neckband added, it's time to serge the side seams.  And at this step, it's important to change your serger's differential - N through the woven material and 1.5 through the knit.

Almost done!  Pin the hems for the skirt and sleeves and finish - I decided to go with a reverse coverstitch with thread in the looper to match the rust in the skirt.

And that's all there is to it!  I still have to press the pleats although they look lovely unpressed as well.  The Prisma is a versatile pattern with a little something for everyone.  Quick, easy and adaptable - what a great pattern!