Continental Elephant Blouse

The weekend has arrived and I have only one thing on my mind, little elephants. Recent weeks have been rainy and grey and I wanted to make something more weather appropriate to wear with jeans. I treated myself to some dark blue elephant poplin a while ago and have been sizing it up since, trying to decided which pattern would work best. I finally decided on another Lisette pattern I have been desperate to try, 2059 - continental blouse. I love the plain front and pleated back panel feature, and also wanted to have another go at setting in sleeves.

It has taken me six hours so far and I just have to stitch down the neck facing then hem, I have run out of the correct colour thread, how annoying at this time in the evening. I mostly made french seams and found it really easy to sew, the sleeves were no challenge for me at all, lovely and even with no puckers.

I did have a bit of a challenge with the cutting, I foolishly folded the fabric slightly off line and only realised when I marked on the bust darts, after cutting. One dart ended on an elephant the row above the other and there was no fabric left to re-cut. I folded the front piece properly and cut it even on both sides, this meant leaving out the bust darts so I had enough fabric left. I am glad I persisted as the fabric is so cute and I think it works perfectly with the pattern.