Dark Floral Bow Blouse for Spring

This blouse, New Look 6476 from the 1980s, departs from the solid colours in my Sudoku plan that I've made so far. It picks up the blue and black, and adds a sprinkling of other bright colours. 

I thrifted this pattern and loved the blouse, so thought I'd give it a go now. I had this floral rayon in the stash from at least a year ago and it was perfect. 

It's a quick pattern - the only fussy bits are getting the tie on without stretching out the neckline in this shifty rayon. It's a little fiddly getting that tie on, what with keeping part of it free so that you can handstitch it down to cover the collar seam afterward, and also having to pin the front facing over the basted collar -- I was cursing my choice of rayon challis there for a bit! But it turned out so beautifully once it was finally done and pressed. 

There are just four pattern pieces: front, back, tie and facing. And no interfacing called for. The hems are simple 5/8" turned under hems. This is an interesting variation on the pussy bow blouse, though, since the tie is not at all a bow. It is wide and short, and simply gets looped over itself in a loose half knot. I like the way it drapes, and while I thought the V-neck was going to be a little too low for my liking, it actually works perfectly once the tie is adjusted, since that covers another inch of the neckline. 

I cut 14 at the shoulders and 16 for the rest, giving a little excess at the hipline when I cut it out. I think it worked well, and this will match with a lot in my wardrobe. It's cheerful, comfortable and easy wearing. Just right for me, and a perfect summer weight. I'm glad I finally tried this one.