I only had a few moments of glory with this [pic.on right]  quite unremarkable to most people, but for those of you who have read this post might remember my dyslexia with getting things the right way up/round. But this time I got it right the first time! Only I can know the sweetness of this moment – the collar was the right way up first go.I finally remembered that this was one of the times that the right side of the fabric goes against the wrong side. The other is on the sleeve plackets [ask me how I know].

I was only just able to get the main blouse pieces out of this lovely Moda fabric, I’d bought the end of the roll and there was no more, and as can be seen the facings and undercollar had to be cut out of white fabric of similar weight, and I was literally left with one scrap of fabric, thisand then I went and did this…….

You might be wondering what they are. They are one side of the sleeve placket facings, which I usually separate if I am short of fabric. What I shouldn’t do is make the classic mistake of cutting two the same [middle picture, the two on the right] as they are supposed to be opposite – obviously. duh! So I had to sacrifice the length on the other half of the placket,   which left me with this amount of fabric to play with.

On the other hand I am reasonably pleased with the Peter Pan collar. I used the vintage Style 306 pattern for the main body of the blouse and although the collar on the  pattern picture looks Peter Pan-ish it isn’t really and is on a collar stand, so I devised my own and put it straight on to the neck of the blouse.

Although I put it on Brenda to take this picture, it is far from finished today. The last things that I sew are the side and sleeve seams. This is because I do everything else flat. Some time ago I found trying to insert sleeves into a sleevehole made by sewing up the side seams, which many patterns tell you to sew first, is not very pleasant and in my case not as successful as I would like. Also the collar goes on much better if the rest of the garment is flat, and the buttonholes too are easier [imho].

So, for the sake of [my] ease, my order of sewing a blouse is;- 1. Front facings, raw edges turned, hemmed or bound as the fabric dictates, then attached to each front piece; 2. I do the buttonholes on the right front before it is attached to anything else – only if I need to try it on do I leave them until later, as usually the spacing is already determined when cutting out. 3. Shoulder seams. 4. Sleeves, attaching and top stitching [much easier when flat] or not, perhaps finishing in another method;  5.Collar, made up with or without stand and attached;  6,Sleeve plackets and cuffs on the sleeves, still whilst flat and enfin  – I sew the sleeve and side seams all in one go. Oh yes, and then hem.

I have underlined ‘blouse’ but this order can be used with dress bodices too [zips are easier to insert when flat – I actually do these before the shoulder seams]. However, with jackets, which often have two piece sleeves, the side seams have to be sewn before the sleeves are inserted. With skirts the zip is the first thing I do. This may, or may not be, how everyone else does it, but I think that sometimes there is  no ‘right’ way to do things, only successful ways. Now having said all that – I have to confess I am a firm traditionalist – I just love to learn the old established, tried and tested ways and incorporate them into whatever I am doing..typical woman!