Happy New Year and Simplicity 1430

Happy New Year!  Yes, I know I'm a little late.  I wasn't quite ready for the new year just yet but it came anyway.  I usually have a detailed list of what I'd like to accomplish for year including both sewing and personal goals, but this year I have only two resolutions:

1. Make my first PDF pattern to share with my sewist friends (that's you guys!)
2. Learn to crochet.

I'm very happy to say I've started both!  More updates on the pattern will be coming (I'll probably be making a pattern tester call very soon) and trust me, no one wants to see any of my crochet projects...at least so far.  Uh-hem...

I did a lot of Christmas gift sewing over the holidays so it's nice to get back in the swing of garment sewing.  I've completed two projects so far this year, a jacket and this blouse.  I bought Simplicity 1430 when it first came out and never got around to making it until now.  I'm really glad I did.  It's quick to put together and even though it's a simple shell, it's still really pretty.

I'm not really sure where this fabric came from.  I found it in the donation bag at work and I decided to bring it home and give it some life.  It's a polyester (I wasn't lucky enough to find a silk in the donation bag) crepe with the perfect drape for the pattern.

It has only a few seams and a band at the top.  Since the pieces for the band are quite small and the fabric is very squwidgy, I found it easier and more accurate to fuse knit interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric BEFORE I cut out the pieces.  It eliminates the need to cut out the fabric and interfacing separately and then trying to line them up on the ironing board before fusing.

After seaming the front and back bands together, I serged all the way around the outer edge, as a guide, to make it easy to fold and press the small 1/4" hem it calls for. 

I love how clean it turned out!  And so much less frustrating because of the serge stitch.

I finished the band with a topstitch using my ditch-foot/blind hemming foot as the guide (I use this foot all the time) to be sure it was even all the way around.

I can't wait to wear it!

Any New Year sewing resolutions?

Here's my review on PatternReview.com.