Adrienne Blouse in a floral knit

I’ve seen so many lovely versions of the Adrienne Blouse on Instagram over the past year or so I just had to make one myself. When I got the paper version of this Friday Pattern Company design from Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics, I decided to get some fabric at the same time. I’m a fan of this indie company’s designs. (To read about Friday Pattern Company’s founder and desginer, see my Q&A with Chelsea Gurnoe.)

I knew I wanted somthing bright and floral so I spent some time browsing and found this great rayon knit fabric (sorry, sold out!). The fabric has flowers, strawberries, and birds on it (see the bird by my hand on my hip?). It seemed perfect for the Adrienne Blouse.

Pattern details

The Adrienne Blouse uses the same pattern piece for the front and the back. The other pattern pieces are the sleeve and the neck binding — and that’s it. Take a look at the back, which doesn’t dip as low as the front because the body is relatively flat.

What makes this top so lovely is the elastic at the shoulders and the full sleeves, which you can really see when my elbows are bent.

At the top of the sleeve, you just fold over the fabric 5/8″ and sew a seam. Then you insert 1/2″ wide elastic, basting the ends of the elastic in place. After you attach the sleeve, you hem them, leaving an opening to insert the elastic. So easy and it looks so good!

Adrienne Blouse – minor pattern adjustments

The pattern size range goes from XS (bust: 32-33″/81-84 cm; hips: 34-35″/86-89 cm) to 4X (bust: 53-54″/134-137 cm, waist: hips: 56-57″/142-145 cm). I made size L (bust: 38-39″/95-99 cm, hips: 39-41″/99-104 cm). My bust is 39″ and my hips are curently around 42.5″/108 cm so I graded up to XL in the hips.

One thing to be aware of is that this pattern is a snug fit across the bust. I have a small bust, A cup, and even for me, there wasn’t enough ease there. But that’s my personal preference. I don’t like a tight fit in the bust. The pattern instructions recommend using a fabric with at least 25 percent stretch.

Luckily, the pattern has a 5/8″ seam allowance, so I just reduced the seam allowance to 3/8″ (1 cm) when I sewed the side seams. I also used a 3/8 seam allowance when I attached the sleeves to the bodice. The top of the sleeves, where you insert elastic, become part of the neckline.

After I sewed the side seams but before I attached the sleeves, I tried it on and realized the fit was tight. And that’s when I ripped out the seams and sewed them with a 3/8″ seam allowance. I sewed my seams using a zig zag stitch on my sewing machine. If you used a serger and trimmed the seam, you would be stuck. So you may want to use your sewing machine, check the fit, and then serge.

When I make this again, I will just cut size XL, now that I know that there is not much ease in this design. You can see how fitted it is in the above photo. If you have a full bust, the directions provide instructions for a full bust adjustment.

Cutting the fabric

My fabric was 60″ wide, which was lucky for me because I had directional fabric and forgot about adding a little extra to compensate. The directions provide helpful cutting layouts for different fabric widths. For size L, the front/back and sleeves pieces face the same direction on 60″ wide fabric, which was exactly what I needed.

So if you have directional fabric, take a look at the cutting layouts to see if if you need to get an extra bit of fabric.

I love the sleeves. I love this fabric. This pattern looks good with solid fabrics and prints. I definitely plan on making more!