Pendrell the second

I've finished my second Pendrell blouse!   Sorry the pictures aren't so great -- it was another gray afternoon here in Houston.  I added a bow tie at the neck, side slits at the hem, and omitted the shoulder ruffles.  The fabric is rayon challis, and some of the oldest in my stash ... not sure how long I've had it, maybe as long as ten years.  I've been waiting for just the right project for it.  I made a little effort to lay out the pattern so that I'd have complete branches on the center front and back.

I ironed the blouse, and then proceeded to get it all wrinkly again as I wrestled it onto the dress form.  Oh well!   I made the one fit modification I wanted, which was to make the mid-back a little narrower, by taking out a smidge (1/4 to 1/8 inch) from the sides and the princess seams in the back.  I didn't even alter the pattern, but just marked where I wanted to start and stop tapering as I sewed.

Adding the neck tie was a simple change: I cut two of the neck binding, and sewed the ends together to make an extra-long binding strip.  Then I did the binding as the pattern instructed, except on the other side of the fabric, so that the binding's on the outside.  Of course, you have the extra fabric hanging loose: I treated it as double-faced bias tape (edges folded to the inside) and sewed it closed, then tied my bow.   I didn't take pictures as I went, but it seems likely that I'll make another soon, and if there is interest, I could do it then.

I initially wanted to do a black binding/tie, but couldn't find any material of the right weight in black.  I had some white rayon challis, but I feared that wouldn't look too keen.  So I went with the boring-but-safe choice of self-fabric.

Next up: probably a dress.  I'm still mulling over exactly what I want, but I'm leaning toward something nice and impractical for daily wear, possibly using this pattern: