All Tied Up Blouse

I sewed this tie-neck blouse back in April and it has finally made it onto the blog. I have been wearing it all winter – so it’s a goodie!

The pattern is the same as my other tie-neck blouse I made last year, bar a couple of minor tweaks. I raised the neck split a bit to make it more work-worthy, and added 5cm to front and back length (which seems to have evaporated centimetre by centimetre every time I washed it – even though I actually prewashed it!)

This is viscose after all – it tends to shrink, some more than others.  I don’t often prewash my fabrics but I nearly always prewash viscose. Now I’m making a mental note to always prewash it twice from now on, as both these blouses have had noticeable serial shrinkage.

This viscose print was picked up in the Moa fabric sale last year – one of many:

Despite what I say about viscose re shrinkage, I do love it. In this print I really liked the colour combination. It’s a black ground with purply/navy and mustard splotches all over it – almost goes with everything!

Actually, I do lie. There was one major tweak I made to this version – sleeve ties:

Back in autumn I was obsessed with ties dangling off everything anywhere, so added some to the cuffs of this blouse.  How though, do you add ties to a cuff, that you can actually tie up yourself without elastic being involved?  In the end I simply bagged out a strap, folded it in half, and attached the loop end to the sleeve seam about 10cm from the fold:

It works a real treat – you wrap the loop end around your forearm one way, the strap end around your arm the other way, and pass the strap through your loop and you’re all half-hitched up (or whatever that knot is, it’s been a long time since Girl Guides…)

I concede that this is not a great design for washing the dishes in! I’ve been caught out a couple of times when the ties get in the way (cutting out is the most hazardous) but I simply wrap the tie around my arm once more and tuck it in – problem solved.

It’s officially spring here, so I might make a sleeveless version soon. Both of these blouses have been workhorse work tops so I know I’ll wear a sleeveless one a lot over the summer.  Are three tie neck blouses too many for one person?!