Tilly & The Buttons ~ The Orla Blouse

 Yes I had a birthday this year!

My husband was so thoughtful and got a me 

chocolate cake 

and a subscription to Threads Magazine. 

They had an awesome pattern review for 

Tilly & The Button's ~ Orla Blouse. 

Tilly & The Button's is located in England.

This is Tilly, isn't she adorable?

Here's Tilly's teaching studio. 

Seeing this makes me want to catch the first flight to England. 

Well...I loved the Orla Blouse and just had to get the pattern. 

They have options for PDF downloads and paper patterns. 

I wanted the real deal and bought a paper pattern, 

yes all the way from England. 

Here's my finished Orla Blouse.

It has some interesting details like the collar for starters. 

The front has lovely partial princess seams too.

The back not only has a zipper but it also has 4 darts. 

Two on the back and two on the top of the shoulder for better shaping.

Sorry this photo is fuzzy, I'll have to speak with my photographer. 

 I chose Japanese fabric for the blouse by Eri Shimatsuka called Pisaraita.

You can purchase the fabric from this Etsy store. 

I purchased my fabric at Road to California, 

and probably paid waaaay too much for it. 

The lace overlay is from Britex Fabrics in San Francisco.

This store is to DIE for. 

They have 4 floors of all things related to sewing.

The 4th floor is my favorite, 

that's where you can get remnant pieces of 

deliciously expensive fabric.

I hand basted the lace overlay onto the collar for stabilization.

I learned this little technique last year when I made my daughter's 

wedding dress. 

 I inserted the zipper with Tilly's incredibly clear & concise instructions. 

The instructions come in the most fabulously designed booklet 

with real photographs and step by step instructions. 

You can find a photo of the booklet below.

They make any other pattern company look sloppy.

  

This is what I got after clipping all the curves in the collar. 

Doesn't this make the most beautiful confetti?

I used my paper bone folding tool to turn the collar right side out. 

Then I carefully pressed with a silk ironing cloth. 

Here's the completed collar. 

In the background you can see the awesome instruction booklet. 

Here's a few more photographs with the collar attached.

I chose to use a contrast fabric for the underside of the collar. 

Happy sewing! 

Shattered Moon

LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

is 

this 

quarter's 

Four In Art Theme.

SHATTERED MOON by Simone Bradford

I started off with an idea of inserting a "moon" 

in the the center of my "darkness".  

I used a freezer paper technique. 

Here goes....

First I ironed on the freezer paper and trimmed away the fabric.

Next I snipped the black fabric and glued it to the freezer paper. 

You can see the PURPLE glue around the edge of the freezer paper. 

This is really LAME glue, the color in it fades in about 5 seconds. 

Sometimes you just need more than 5 seconds to get the job done right. 

And now it's ready to have the moon sewn into it.

The moon is made from KONA's 2016 color of the year. 

I did something bad, and forgot to take a photo sewing 

the moon on the the background.

 Fine...ground me.

Next I sliced and diced as I shattered the moon. 

I didn't want the moon to stay round while slicing and dicing so

 I just let it morph as I inserted the strips of fabric.

Quilting arches is a favorite pastime.

I quilted the moon in the center with glow in the dark thread...

Hence the 

LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS. 

The final mini quilt measures 16" x 16". 

The gray fabric on the front of the quilt is actually the 

WRONG 

side of a black on black hexagon fabric. 

I do this frequently. 

No I don't need mental health. 

Sometimes the back of the fabric is just as beautiful as the front. 

 I used gray, yellow and glow in the dark thread on it. 

I cheated and machine sewed the binding on. 

I swear I never cheat at anything else. 

And ta da! Here's the backside. 

You can view other Four In Art blogs below. 

Bette Ayers	https://www.flickr.com/photos/toot2
Camilla Cathro	http://faffling.blogspot.co.nz/
Catherine Chisholm	http://www.knottedcotton.com
Elizabeth Eastmond	http://www.opquilt.com
Janine Green	http://www.rainbowhare.com
Nancy Myers	http://www.patchworkbreeze.blogspot.com
Rachel Riley	http://www.rachel-thelifeofriley.blogspot.com