Alexander Blouse

I saw this Alexander Blouse at the Burda website and fell in love with the pretty ruffled sleeves and peplum.  So I purchase it immediately at USD$4.50 and downloaded the pattern. 

Before I sew, I read some reviews from fellow sewers who had sewn up the blouse and it was really helpful.  I made at size 34. Changes that I've made after reading the reviews:

1) Added a wedge of paper to the sleeve where the front and back join so that both front and back pieces are on straight grain. 

2) Cut the Back piece on fold as I eliminated the back buttons.  Hence, I've removed the 5/8" seam allowance from the back bodice.

3) Added 1" width to both front pieces so that I'll have about 1" overlap along the front because a lot of sewers feedback that the front button areas show some skin.  Hence, I also added 1" to the front facing pieces. 

4) I remove one pleat each from the front and back as I forgot to cut the waist portion bigger since I usually got one size bigger for the hip area.

5) For the peplum, I also added 1" to the front so that I will not have a gap in front since the bodice has extended by 1".  I also lengthen the peplum by 1". Because of my mistake of cutting the bodice smaller at the waist, I had to lengthen my peplum bait to accommodate the bigger waistline.

6) I also omit the belt since I don't think I'll need it. I usually use a black belt that I already have or some grosgrain ribbon.

My fabric is some turquoise blue cotton that I got from Spotlight. I love the blouse and very happy with the color as I don't have this blue in my wardrobe. 

I'm not sure if it's my poor sewing skills but the sleeve really curl up and stick out alot. I've tried to pick the threads and sew no less than 3 times but it still curl! So frustrating! And it is also too "flappy" if there is such word. Cause I feel like my sleeves are flying and flapping when I walk.  So I made a 1" pleats in the middle of the sleeves and tack it down. It looks more tapered now and less ruffly.  But what to do, I got fat arms and need to hide them.

My cotton is slightly stiff so I didn't need to add any interfacing for the peplum. The bodice looks a little short on me so next time, I'll also added 1" to the bodice. Cut the bodice and peplum to be one size bigger at waist. Make the sleeve less wide.

That's it. How does my blouse look? Its quite a easy pattern to sew after you get the measurement right. The shape is very feminine and looks really good with a pencil skirt.