My 1940's sequined blouse is finished!! (+ pattern giveaway)

I am very excited to have finally finished my 1940's sequined blouse.  You may recall that I started this blouse back in May and I had some time while I was on vacation to add the final sequins and put the blouse together!

I used McCall 1192 as the pattern.  I've always loved the look of 40's bedazzled blouses and was super happy to have picked this pattern up for cheap.  It required 12 metres of sequins! 

 

I made the blouse out of a lightweight and drapey polyester fabric (which was very difficult to cut--it kept wanting to slip around!).  All in all, it took over 20 hours to apply all the sequins and to put the blouse together.  The actual process of sewing up the blouse was super quick as it consists of only two pieces and two facings.

I was a little unsure at first if the iron-on transfer would work.  But it wasn't a problem--in fact, I think these can be used multiple times (especially on lighter fabrics).  The design was pretty easy to follow.  Though as you see not all the curly-q's are connected, meaning I had to start and stop and finish off rows of sequins quite a few times. This made it take a bit longer because it was often tricky to fold the end thread under a row of sequins to finish off a row!

I used strands of sequins on this blouse.  You can use either strands or sew individual sequins on (though that would take a CRAZY amount of time).  It's great that you can buy strands already to go.  It took a little bit of time to get used to making circular shapes (without it looking too wonky).

I am really, really proud of the sequins on the back!  Though in retrospect, I could have left a bit more room between the sequins on the centre back for the neck opening!

Here's what it looks like all sewn up.  These photos were taken at the Sewing Studio in New York City.  You can see it was a tight squeeze getting the opening between the two circles of sequins.  It looks a bit gapey in the photo but I think I can fix this with a good pressing to get the centre back opening to line up better.

I wore this blouse to a night on the town in New York City and I absolutely love it (I'm even wearing it now as I type!).  I added shoulder pads to get more of the 40's shoulder silhouette. 

YAY for sequined blouses!!! I am definitely going to make more of these types of garments in the future--they are so much fun!

Pattern Giveaway

I'm delighted to give away my copy of McCall 1192.  It is a size 18 or 36 bust and includes the directions, the pattern for the blouse and the iron-on transfer for the sequins.  I can't guarantee that the iron-on transfer will work again but it's worth a try.  Either way, the design is there and could be easily traced onto your fashion fabric.

This giveaway is open to everyone. Just leave a comment on this post by Saturday midnight (London time) for one entry. You can also do a blog post on this giveaway, tweet about it or put it on facebook for an additional entry for each method (up to four entries total). Just come back and leave me a comment that you've done all those. I'll randomly pick a winner on Sunday. It would be great if you could leave me some way of contacting you in your comment!

The only restriction of the giveaway is that you do not sell this pattern. Keep it for as long as you want and once you are done--pass it along to someone else!

I love comments--so feel free to leave a comment even if you don't want to be entered in the giveaway!  Just let me know your preference in your comment!

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments while I was on holiday!  I'm enjoying reading all of them and catching up on all your wonderful creations!