Review: Simplicity 1460, View C – Vintage lace blouse

Isn't it annoying when you have almost a meter of fabric left over from a big project? This is too much fabric to throw out, yet not enough to make most clothes. Luckily, you can make this vintage blouse with just a metre of scrap fabric.

Pattern: Simplicity 1460; Fabric: corded lace (Spotlight); Sheath Dress: Vogue 8849, View B, made by me; Dress Fabric: satin-back crepe (Fabric Vision), Shoes: Nika, Miz Mooz. 

What to love about this pattern 

This blouse has a lovely frilly shape and interesting details that you don’t see in modern clothes. I love the scallops around the neckline and the frilly peplum. Another great design feature are the diagonal darts from the waist to the bust. These darts shape the bust perfectly and look elegant. Best of all you can easily make this top with less than a meter of fabric. I made this top from leftovers from a lace dress.

What I don't like about this pattern 

The instructions were easy to follow, but I think they could have had more tips for sewing lace.

Changes that I made 

Since this is a lace top I made a few changes to make the facing look better. I used two layers of black lining material with interfacing in the middle as the facing. You can see how I did this in my pattern tutorial for this top when I publish it. This prevents the interfacing from showing through the lace and it looks really neat.

What I could have done better 

The lace I used turned out to be not very good quality for the price I paid. It's terrible for fraying and the cording breaks and frays where it is sewn. Also, I don't think the scallops are as prominent as they should be; maybe I didn't clip the seam allowance enough?

Difficulty 

The pattern itself is quite easy. If you know how to make buttonholes and scallops then your blouse will be a breeze. However, lace isn’t an easy fabric to work with so if you're a beginner, it might be best to make this blouse in an easy woven fabric like cotton or rayon. That being said, I'm making a tutorial for how to sew this top, and I've got a few neat tricks on how to sew lace!

The Verdict 

This is a fantastic pattern using up small lengths of fabric. I even made the matching sheath dress (Vogue 8849) to get that sleek and feminine vintage look. I think the combo is a stunning outfit. Look out for my tutorial on how to make this blouse in a future blog post!

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• Instruction Clarity: 4.5/5. The instructions are clear and pretty easy to follow, but could have been more detailed for sewing lace. I found the instructions on how to make the scallop neckline to be particularly good.
• Fit: 5/5. The fit is perfect, especially around the bust. However, there isn't a lot of room for expansion at the waist, so if you're in between sizes it would be best to size up.
• Design Elegance: 5/5. I love the vintage design details like the scallop neckline, and the peplum.
• Final Product: 5/5. I love wearing this blouse to work.
• Overall: 4.9/5. Fantastic pattern for those who want vintage elegance which you can wear every day. This is my favourite blouse pattern so far.