SBCC Gibson Blouse

Can you guys tell that I am a fan of neutrals? 😹😹😹 All joking aside, I do love me some black clothing, but you all know by now that I'm into really bright fabrics too, right? And bright psychedelic butterfly fabric sent to me from Britex Fabrics, CHECK!!!


Have I sewn with silk crepe de chine before? I don't think I have, but now I am a fan. It was a lot easier to prep, cut, and sew in comparison to the silk chiffon I sewed with at the end of last year. Way less slippery too, which I am not complaining about. And because it wasn't super sheer I got away with serging the raw edges instead of French seams. Again, not mad about that!


The shirt is the SBCC Gibson Blouse, a pattern I bought that has been chillin on my bookshelf for a while, waiting to be used. I think I always write this when I blog about SBCC, but man, I am such a huge fan of Betsy's stuff. With most patterns that require a woven fabric I end up doing some sort of narrow shoulder adjustment paired with an FBA or grade between sizes, and sometimes I end up doing all of the above so the garment will work with my narrow shoulders. As a petite, and SBCC is geared towards petites, it is sooooo nice to not have to make these adjustments and have the sleeves fit well and not dig into my armpits or feel weird. That said, I didn't make a single fit adjustment to the pattern and I like how it turned out. And if I do need to make any shoulder adjustments in the future I am going to do it Betsy's way. She just posted an awesome tutorial that I am dying to try. Bring on the shoulder adjustments!

Construction of Gibson went pretty smoothly. I'm glad I made a wearable muslin first because it made sewing my final version straightforward. On the muslin I did do some head scratching when it came to which seam allowances to use since there are a few options, but in the end it all worked out.


Gathers, gathers, gathers. This psychedelic silk butterfly fabric may not be the best for displaying the sewing details in this garment, but I wanted to make this pattern and fabric combo happen. They're there on the bodice front, sleeves, and back of the shirt, I promise! If you'd like to see how I gather fabric then check out this post I wrote for Britex.

For the hem and sleeves I didn't follow the suggested method of folding and stitching and did a roll hem instead by following Grainline's tutorial. I think it looks a little cleaner and it actually ended up being easier to sew too.

Before I wrap this up I just want to thank everyone who commented on my last post about my Grandma. I got a lot of really sweet and thoughtful text messages, comments, messages online, and a very nice card from Sonja. We all have busy lives and the fact that so many of you took time out of your day to send me encouragement and kind words really means so much to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. xoxox

Also, this garment has a very special meaning to me in regards to my Grandma. If you ever meet me in person and want to grab a drink I will tell you all about it.