Pattern Review - McCalls 6035 Blouse

Pattern Description: From the website - Shirts A, B, C, D have princess seams and button closure; dress A has collar band and short sleeves with cuffs; dresses B, C, D have collar, collar band and below elbow length sleeves; dress B has sleeves with cuffs; dress C has sleeves with turn back cuffs with tabs; dress D has sleeves with drawstrings; separate pattern pieces provided for A/B, C, D cup sizes
No seriously - I copied this from the website, where they call the variations "dress". Someone was asleep at the copy editing desk....

Anyway, I made View B, the version with turned back cuffs.

Sizing: 6-22. The nice thing about this pattern is that it has different pattern pieces for B, C and D cups. I made a 14C

Fabric Used: Striped cotton shirting that I have had in my stash for years. This is a beautiful soft fabric with a very fine weave.

Needle/Notions Used: Universal 60/8, thread, Pro-Weft fusible interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply, 1/2 inch pearl finish buttons.

Did it look like the photo or drawing when you got through? Yes

How were the instructions? Mostly good. They do have one squidbrained section. They have you sew the sleeve with the seam allowances on the wrong side until you get to the cuff. Then they have you clip to the stitching line, and sew the rest of the way with the SAs toward the right side of the garment. You then turn the cuffs up so the SAs are hidden. Instead, I sewed them like you would sew a regular pant cuff.

Construction Notes: I interfaced the CF facings (you can see them here in my blog post about No Bubble Interfacing). I also found that, whether it was my sewing machine needing tension adjustment, the sharpness of the curves for the C cup version, the tight weave of the fabric, or a combination of the above, it was impossible to get the front princess seams to sew without some puckering at the bust. It's less noticeable on me than it is on Shelley, since I fill the top out better than she does. I may change the princess lines from armhole to shoulder and try it again. I ripped out the princess seams twice, hand-basted, pressed the bejeezus out of it (lightly), but still got puckers. Like I say, it may have to do with a combination of factors, and you may not have the same problem.

Any changes? Nope

Likes/Dislikes: Like the lines, like the cuffs, like the fact that they do the FBA for me. Another nice thing about the different cup sizes is that larger cup sizes have lower bust points, so I didn't have to make that adjustment either. Thank you McCalls!

Would you do it again? Would you recommend it? I will do it again. As I say, I'll probably try changing the princess seam and see how that works. I do recommend it. I think it's a good pattern and a real wardrobe staple. I'm wearing it today with jeans, heels and my long red wig!

Conclusion: A real winner. Here it is on Shelley:

 I definitely recommend this one.
Happy sewing!