Sencha, Take Two

The black currant coloured, faux-silk Sencha blouse is complete. I made a second version 3 (on the front) with my own modified back (7 snaps).

I will post photos soon (it was too dark to snap them this evening), but right now I'll just share my thoughts.

I decided not to recut to the size 6 - I stuck with an 8 but I modified it as such:

• I repositioned and added a pin tuck on each side of the back. Now there are 2 back tucks on each side of the centre back, evenly spaced from the side seams. Of course, the back closures (snaps or buttons) are angled to the right side of centre, so I wonder if it looks strange. I'm not too concerned. This alteration happily removed about .75" on each side of the back, or 1.5" overall.
• I took a bit of fullness out of the side seams under the arm. I didn't get mathematical about it - I just eyeballed the amount and cut it off the pattern - and it worked out fine.

What I realized, after wearing the leopard-print version last week, is that the bust and shoulders fit well. It was the back and underarm that were too big. I didn't want to re-trace and cut a size 6 if, in fact, that was going to diminish the full bust ease, which worked well.

Gotta say, I am very excited to make this sort of alteration. It's so thrilling to me that I have the confidence to give it a go. Not so long ago I would have run for the hills at the thought of deviating from a pattern.

Many sewing-blogger friends are directly responsible for helping me to get to this stage. I love it when I read a post that enthusiastically proclaims, it's just sewing. Do what you want. Make it up. What's the worst that can happen?? That attitude underpins creativity.