Lemonade: A Peasant Blouse

Making Lemonade From Lemons

Did you ever have a time when you were sure something you were going to make would take just a couple of hours that took far longer? This sweet little peasant blouse did just that to me! It was made to go under the "Love and Kisses For Natalie" smocked sundress.

Finding the right shade of yellow gingham was the first hurdle. I wanted something soft that would meld well with the soft white of the pillowcase and the pastels of the smocking and embroidery. I went to all the stores near me with no luck. Would you believe that I found a small length of this pale yellow in my own stash? It was left from a past project and there was just enough to make the blouse and a pair of bonus bloomers. Yea! Now to cut out the pattern and begin.

Well, I now had the second hurdle to overcome: no pattern for a blouse in Natalie's size. I had a dress pattern, though, and could make my own pattern from it. Unfortunately......I didn't do such a great job drafting the pattern and the little blouse didn't have enough ease at the bottom. It needed more so that it could skim over a bulky diaper and panties. Of course, I didn't have any pieces left that were big enough to start over. Soooooooo......

I sat and stared at that little blouse and kept telling myself that there had to be a way to fix the problem! When given lemons, make lemonade!!! I remembered something that I had read about how dresses passed down in one family got prettier over time because the mother had to be creative in letting out and taking in so that it would fit her different sized daughters. She added bands of lace and insertion, ribbons, etc. I had it! I got out my hoarded stash of Swiss insertions and began playing with different designs. I cut the whole top off the blouse and added insertion all the way around, then I carefully measured and cut the bottom front vertically three times and added the insertion into each opening. I added a band of the edging used on the sleeves to the bottom and voila! It was much prettier than it had been and the necessary ease was where it needed to be. Now it could even be worn with the bonus panties without the sundress as a casual play set. Lemons to Lemonade!

The dark spot in the next picture under the insertion at the center front is the clamp holding the panties on the stand.