fitzfabulous

My purple obsession is bordering on…obsessive. I am heeding advice to stock up while everyone thinks purple’s all fresh and trendy, for the days when my love is finally left alone.

Grabbed up a size 22 shell at the thrifts for $2. It’s a beautiful purple color and it’s pure silky silk.

The neck has some great details, too. There used to be an invisible zipper up the side — no more. I thought this was going to be a simple fix – pull in the sides, pin, baste, sew. And you know I love refitting giant tops to fit me because of the resulting long length and the de facto cap sleeves.

Alas, some pesky darts got in the way. My refashions are sometimes lazy. I didn’t want to rehem anything or refinish any edges. So I ended up making darts on my own to pull up the slack so the front matched the back at the armhole and hem.

Took three tries to get it right. Here’s one of the mistakes

I kept trying very long darts that went along the bias and were hard to sew. Unclear why – had some impression from a vintage pattern it was the way to go.

In the end, wide, straight darts ended up working right.

Tried out a Hong Kong finish on the edges to keep it all smart looking, cutting the tape from the side scraps. So little waste!

And now I have a new silk blouse.

That’s so ready for a stretchy purple sequined belt.