Love Notions Melody Dolman

I know. You're thinking "another Love Notions pattern?!"  I've got some other things in the works but I just love the fit of Love Notions patterns and how easy they are to sew up. So I keep adding them to my wardrobe...

To the best of my knowledge, this is a poly chiffon giraffe print.  I bought it at least 12 years ago from the remnant bin at Joanne's and there was just 3  yards of this. I could never decide what I wanted to make with such a sheer fabric and so it's just been sitting in my stash, aging.

I was binge watching youtube the other day, catching up on vloggers that I only recently discovered, and Karina from Pins and Needles did a beautiful chiffon blouse (I thought from this pattern, but now can't find the video!) and I was so inspired by it!

This pattern is very well drafted but my fabric choice made it challenging!  I started by adding my standard 1.5" at the lengthen line for the front and back. This is my standard adjustment to LoveNotions patterns. I used a fusible black interfacing that is surprisingly hard to see for the most part. 

Overall, I'm very happy with the shirt.  Due to my fabric choice, I did make some minor alterations:

• I used french seams for the side seams. I was really worried about the seams coming unraveled and I serged just about every seem, but I didn't want serger seams to show through the sheer fabric so I opted for the french seams. My side seams are slightly larger than the 3/8th's it's drafted for, but since this is not a close-fitting shirt, this is not an issue for me. 
• I top stitched just about everything.  This fabric really wanted to move around. I did the stay stitching for the neckline, as indicated in the instructions, but ultimately I top stitched all of the seams flat. Again, this was due to my fabric, not the pattern.

Collars can be my nemesis sometimes (I suspect I'm just not patient enough!!) and I was very concerned about this one turning out correctly. I was very patient and took my time and there were no issues with this collar at all. Shocking!

The blouse isn't quite done.  I need to add buttons, which I don't have, and bias tape...which I don't have. Normally I would make matching bias tape, but this fabric doesn't press well and I don't think it would make good bias tape. And I'm not sure I have enough left to actually make bias tape. So I'm going to order some brown bias tape and buttons, probably off of Etsy. I'm not sure if I'm going to actually sew buttonholes though. This top is also mean to tie up and I might never use the buttons. I'm concerned this fabric won't take well to buttonholes. But I have time to think about that.  

I absolutely plan to make this shirt again in a much less fussy fabric. This is really my style with jeans or capris pants.   Just waiting on my fabric to arrive!