Blouse with sash
The beautiful Blouse with Sash LEILA pattern
Wow, this blouse is stunning.
And as it's the second time I’ve sewed a pattern by this designer, I was prepared for what was to come. More on that in a bit!
Before we get started with the review, I quickly want to go over the contents and guidelines for my pattern reviews:
First of all I will be sharing my honest opinion about the pattern, construction, instructions and finished garment. I will cover the following:
Pattern facts
The buying process
Assembling the pattern
Finding the right fabric
Understanding the instructions
The end result
Overall impression of this pattern
Well then - let’s get started!
Pattern facts
Designer: ThisIsKachi
Design name: Leila Blouse with Sash
Pattern type: Digital PDF
Size range: XXS - 3XL (I made a size XS)
Is seam allowance included: No
Wore this blouse to SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, and I felt so good
The buying process
I bought this pattern on etsy, and it was very straight forward. No problems downloading or anything.
Included in the purchase is:
An instruction booklet
PDF pattern in A4, A0 and US letter print
A general information booklet
Once everything is downloaded, all you need to do is print out the pattern pieces and assemble them!
Assembling the pattern
After printing the pattern comes assembling (unless you’ve printed in A0, but as I’m using my home printer in A4, this is a part of it). Honestly not my favourite. But once it’s done you can reuse that same pattern again and again.
Even though there’s no way around assembling an A4 printed pattern, some patterns are easier to assemble than others.
I find that ThisIsKachi’s patterns are not the easiest. There are guiding triangles on each page that you match up with the corresponding letters and numbers on other pages. But you have to line the outer edges of the pages, not a square like I’ve seen in other patterns (by for example Papercut Patterns).
It all makes sense when you lay the pieces down and find the matching letters/numbers, but personally I prefer other designers’ cutting layouts.
Finding the right fabric
This is one of my favourite things!
You know the feeling when, you have the pattern and a general idea, now you just need to find that perfect fabric that will make the garment come to life exactly as you hoped.
Well, again ThisIsKachi leaves some to be desired. Or so it seemed. I couldn’t find any fabric recommendations in the instructions other than this sentence: “I used a 100% RA satin”.
I would have liked more fabric recommendations to come with this pattern, though I know you could get help in your local fabric store.
I actually found the fabric suggestions after making the pattern. They were at the bottom of the “Tech sheet” that was downloaded after the purchase. I would have liked the fabric recommendations to be a part of the instructions, but that’s just personal preference. In the tech sheet, ThisIsKachi writes: “Any light cotton, satin, silk or synthetic fiber can be used; I used a satin rayon.”
For my blouse with sash, I used micro polyester satin bought at Selfmade. I love the shine of the fabric, and I feel like it’s very close to the original from the designer (though not silk). It was a hassle cutting, though, since this particular fabric was super slippery. Surprisingly, it was very easy to sew with.
Understanding the instructions
As with assembling the printed pattern and finding the right fabric, I think the instructions can be a little tricky to understand. The explanations don’t always make sense, and even though there are pictures, they don’t show clearly what to do.
BUT! ThisIsKachi makes amazing video tutorials for all her patterns, and this definitely saves it for me.
Because her videos are well-lit, well-edited, and well-filmed, I understood every step of the way.
So, If you don’t like reading sewing instructions, but prefer watching video tutorials, you should definitely check out ThisIsKachi’s patterns.
Love the end result, though next time I would shorten the sleeves by about 7-10 cm, because they are super long
The end result
All in all, I’m very happy with this blouse!
It was a lot of fun making, and I don’t think I’ve ever owned something this classy.
However, the sleeves are waaaay too long for me, and next time I would shorten them by up to 10 cm. As you can see on the pictures, a lot of fabric tends to gather by the wrist.
But, ThisIsKachi does recommend making a mock-up first, which I didn’t, so I wouldn’t blame that on the pattern itself. That’s on me.
I’ve never sewed a double button tape before, but I love the result. Covering the buttons on the front makes the garment look way more exclusive. For the cuffs and the top button, I used cover buttons, which I covered in the same fabric. Again, this makes for a very stylish result.
Overall impression of this pattern
This is a great pattern, if you’re looking for a stunning blouse to wear to a party, a birthday or just because you want to feel super classy.
There are some things I would have changed (the printing layout, the fabric recommendations and the written instructions), but it’s all forgiven with the amazingly thorough videoes, ThisIsKachi provides.
I would recommend this pattern for experienced beginners and above.
What do you think about this review?
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What should I review next? Please let me know in the comments!