Datura Blouse by Deer & Doe

I've decided that I am going to blog about making one thing each week!  I don't blog enough, but I do sew enough, so I thought that this would be a good target to set myself and we will see how it goes...

For my first weekly challenge, I decided to make the Datura Blouse by Deer & Doe. I found this one when I was searching for shirt patterns to make. It's not exactly the shirt pattern that I was looking for but I thought that it looked brilliant when I saw all of the versions around the web. I love that there is so much potential to hack the pattern, and I REALLY like the buttons down the back! 

Here is my version (and me!):

Me & my Datura!

Datura Blouse back with buttons

This was also a brilliant opportunity to use up this lovely Liberty silk which I bought on Etsy. I had originally bought it with a skirt in mind, but I didn't order enough (d'oh) so when I saw this pattern I decided that it was actually a good thing that I had made that mistake! 

Liberty silk twill

I like this version with the Peter Pan collar. It took me two attempts to make it as the first version was a bit bumpy and not particularly round so I wasn't happy with it. 

Datura Blouse with Peter Pan collar

I made this pattern in a size 42 to fit my bust and there is plenty of room. The bottom is flared so there is also plenty of room there! There were a few new techniques to try with this pattern. Although the instructions were clear, there wasn't a lot of detail or many images so I had to read them a good few times to understand exactly what to do, especially with piecing the front and back yolks together. 

I also just stitched the buttons through both back pieces as I knew that I would never unbutton the top and didn't have the energy for button holes. I used bias binding around the bottom hem, as directed, but I'm not sure I would bother with this again. I think you could get just as nice an effect by doing a mini hem (and I am all about the hems since receiving the Colette Patterns guide to hemming). 

I made this at the end of the long Thanksgiving weekend. The day was pretty relaxing as we'd been on a long hike to Garibaldi Lake the day before and my legs were still a bit stiff! 

Garibaldi Lake is stunning, even when it's cloudy. The blue water is so pretty and it was nice to be there on a quiet day just to enjoy it on our own. 

At Garibaldi Lake

Garibaldi Lake