McCall 6569: Button back blouse
What to make with the yardage (navy cotton pique) left over from my Bestway dress? I’m suffering from a severe top shortage, so a blouse was the obvious choice. Inspired by the many lovely Sencha blouses floating around the blogosphere lately, I decided to attempt a back button blouse of my own. I wanted one with gathers at the neckline and short but non-cap sleeves. It took some looking. (It’s not till you swear off Simplicity patterns entirely that you realize how many of the vintage patterns available for sale are… Simplicity. About 65%, I’d say.) I finally found McCall 6569 on Etsy.
The internet tells me this pattern dates from 1946. I can believe it. This is definitely a non-austerity blouse. The body is cut in three big sections: one front bodice and two back bodice with cut-on facings. I had sufficient yardage, but, you know… not all in one piece. Matters were complicated by my cutting one back bodice on the wrong side. (Oh, for basic spatial awareness!) But being the cool, collected make-do-and-mend whiz I am, I kept calm and carried on. I cut out a replacement back section in three parts (top, bottom, facing), pieced it, ran a mock seam (pintuck) across the other back section to make the two look symmetrical and proceeded as usual. The piecing is below the waist and I intend to wear this blouse with high-waisted trousers (in progress), so it won’t even show.
The sleeves were also supposed to be cut double, folded and attached, but to prevent bulk, I cut them single and hemmed them narrowly instead. I skipped shoulder pads. I put in ordinary machine buttonholes instead of bound buttonholes because life’s too short. Then I covered the buttons in the same red polycotton I used to trim the Bestway dress.
Silk headscarf (in my colors for this season!) found on the street during a night out in Soho. Coupon-free!
This pattern taught me the true worth of the fabric recommendations on pattern envelopes. The pattern came with no recommendations, so I only discovered after beginning the project that it was designed to work best with much lighter, drapier fabrics — a silk georgette or crepe would have worked wonderfully. The gathering at the neckline was far too bulky for the relatively heavy cotton pique I’d chosen. So I converted the gathering to darts using the, uh, “eyeball” method — stitching a long single dart at CF, then putting the blouse on my dress form and pinning radiating, shorter darts in more-or-less symmetrical pairs until the excess fabric had been absorbed.
The "eyeball" method is not endorsed by London College of Fashion.
It was probably also due to the fact that this pattern was meant to be made up in floaty, drapey fabric that it included so much design ease. Either that or it suffered from some seriously wacky sizing. I am a 34 bust and the pattern was marked for a 30, but when I came to measure it up I found I didn’t actually have to grade it at all — in fact, it was so roomy I had to take it in by 0.75″ at each side seam (enlarging the armholes by eye FTW). I’m trying to imagine an actual 30″ bust woman in this blouse as cut. I see her as a waif floundering helplessly in a sea of chiffon.
This is me looking wan and apprehensive because I am about to attend a beer festival and pig roast in James’s hometown and fear being glassed by an Essex girl tanked up on WKD Blue.
Lessons learned:
- Use the pattern envelope. Fabric recommendations (if there are any) are there for a reason. Pattern illustrations are not fantasy renderings but technical drawings, from which a lot of useful information about the design can be gleaned. Cutting layouts, in particular, are meticulously planned and can’t usually be improved on.
- It’s okay to be relaxed about your sewing sometimes. It’s only a top, not the mirror on the Hubble telescope. As usual, I fudged around with this top a lot during the wrong (construction) stages, but it looks okay from 3 feet away, so I’m not sweating it.
- Back button blouses rule. They give a nice clean look that invites accessorizing with brooches, scarves or jewelry. They provide back interest (rare and unusual these days). And the independent woman need not fear — they can be fastened and unfastened solo.
OK, this is simply adorable. And I’ll admit, I sometimes steer clear of all my back fastened vintage patterns because I’m, alas, single (and likely to stay that way! I’m stubborn too!)
But you’ve given me hope. Maybe I CAN wiggle & button my way in?
I have a very similar pattern in my stash, also a McCalls, from the same illustrator apparently. I believe the same “blonde” is gracing my pattern cover too (a raglan sleeve version).
This is so lovely! I’m still struggling to find a blouse pattern that I like.
this is just so fabulous! love the red fabric buttons against the navy blue color of your top. and your headscarf is so cool. you look so pretty in your very own creations.
Great blouse – love the red buttons! And smart thinking on turning the gathers into darts.
I’ve been reassured now by a few people that back-button blouses can be done up and undone without help, but I’m still glad to hear it again
Me again, just to let you know that I’ve tagged you in a game of eight questions if you care to play…
Great blouse. I love the red buttons.
I love it! All the Senchas did not get me to think a back button blouse was something for me, but yours did! And I really need tops and am looking for a T-Shirt like look for wovens.
I even like the darts much more than the original gathers on the envelope.
Loves it! Well done for nifty back pieces and neck tuck innovations! I wouldn’t have known what to do, other than chuck it in a draw and cry at my boyfriend until he suggested we go for a g&t, but you ended up with a FANTASTIC top. Lucky street find, congrats. That’s the streets way of telling you you have good sewing karma right now. Also, you may have figured this out since I’m assuming you’ve already been to the beer festival, but it’s the Essex guys, not the girls who tend to drink the WKD Blue (if any of the Essex pubs I’ve worked in and clubs/bars I’ve found myself in, which is a lot what with growing up in Essex, are to go by)! xxx
It was about evenly split between men and women. I don’t mind the WKD Blue, but it is mildly tragic to see people passing up some of Britain’s finest ales and ciders in favor of a pint of what basically looks like the stuff the vet injected into Yuri.
My sewing karma is going well at the moment, actually! I’m glad the universe is giving me silk hankies to alert me.
“It’s only a top, not the mirror on the Hubble telescope,” totally made me laugh! I’m going to pin it to my inspiration board as my new mantra. Thank you!
I’m loving your colors for this season, including this gorgeous blouse! The back buttons are so cute, and I echo others in saying that your fudging turned out lookin’ great. Well done!
Lovely blouse, and good job with the ‘fudging’, it looks great! I’ve been tempted to make a back-buttoning one for ages, but I wasn’t sure if it was possible to get it done up on one’s own, so thank you for clearing that up.
You look great in this. What a great pattern; I am going to try to track down a copy for myself. I would love the 3/4 sleeve version for fall.
I am terrible about ignoring fabric instructions; I am currently trying to resolve a skirt that I used the wrong fabric with, and it did not work.
I love pique! The blouse came out so well, I can’t wait to see the trousers in-process!
“I put in ordinary machine buttonholes instead of bound buttonholes because life’s too short.”
I like this sentiment, haha. I haven’t done them even once yet.
You look fantastic! Very good back interest indeed.
Hello…I think it looks fantastic in the pique! Having seen many of and made one hideous Sencha blouse, I agree that while the ideal fabric may be a lighter weight, it can–and perhaps should, for some body types–be done up in a heavier fabric. Yours looks more like a formal t-shirt type blouse, which is a style I love, being not fond of wearing actual t-shirts.
…and yes, you DO begin to notice the plethora of Simplicity…but we remain committed!
That is SUPER cute. And great save on the back!
Love the blouse. I just bought an in print McCall’s pattern that is very similar. I’ll be making it up soon hopefully!
Rebecca – I’m dying to try this, can you tell me the pattern number of your McCall’s pattern?
LOVE it! And it’s in your colors! FANTASTIC! You look lovely and I adore that pattern! Great job!
I like button back blouses … but … how do you do them up yourself?
J
Reach your right arm over your right shoulder and your left arm up behind your back. If your fingertips meet, you can fasten and unfasten a back-button shirt without help.
I think your darts look very nice. I’d say your blouse gets an A- cause you can hardly tell you had any trouble. GREAT job. Kitty
I’m totally impressed! And I’m starting to think that I really, really need a back-button blouse.
Wow this top is really cute, and the scarf just makes the outfit! I wish I could see some of your patchwork job, I do that all the time. Looks like a good outfit for beer drinking!
I love back button blouses, since being a short, more 50s shaped gal makes for button gap-age in the front (if I can get it to close at all). I’m going to be on the lookout for this pattern now, as I really like yours.
P.S. – I like that Wikipedia informed me of the american equivalent (Jersey Girl) to an Essex Girl. It is true!
I think it is “right” if it fits, it stays on and it looks ok. Yours looks more than ok, it looks amazing! I wish it was mine! I love blouses made from leftovers, its like a freebie. Well done.
I do tend to gold-plate some of my work, but it is because I am rather obsessive compulsive and because I teach sewing. It’s really lovely and relaxing to make something organically, I wish my organic creations would turn out as nicely as yours.
On cutting layouts… Usually vintage (30′s-50′s) layouts can’t be improved upon. If I open up a modern pattern, I usually see red because of the waste. Amy Butler is especially naughty. Speaking of cutting waste, have you seen the more recent issue of Threads that discusses cutting a garment with no waste, planning it that way from the beginning? I didn’t care for their sample, but I am transfixed by the idea. I think it is my new cutting Holy Grail.
heh. glassing. Big problem here. The government is always threatening to force the pubs to switch to plastic. Uhhhhmmm.. Nanny state?
Back in my Viking enthusiast days I found a brilliant article on how to cut a no-waste Viking gown. As soon as you read this you realize how much sense it makes — if you’ve spent scores of hours washing, carding, dyeing, spinning, weaving and finishing your wool, you won’t feel like letting ANY of it go to waste. We need somebody (Japanese?) to make this kind of puzzle cutting catch on again.
Lovely! And thank you for saying it’s OK to adapt the pattern to suit your fabric – I get so blinking literal when it comes to vintage patterns, as if I was making a garment for a museum instead of to wear! My next project is a similar back-button blouse so your post was very timely.
Absolutely lovely!
I *am* amazed it can be put on and off by yourself. That’s why I’ve been avoiding the back button closure. Perhaps I should re-consider…
And I’m also happy that someone else subscribes to the “it’s not brain surgery, it’s sewing” theory. If you’re happy with it, that’s all that matters. If someone notices and comments on any “errors”, then they need a lesson in etiquette and a new hobby.
One of the trickiest things about working with vintage patterns is the sometimes-absent fabric recommendations! I have had my share of projects that turned out a bit wonky due to inappropriate fabric selection.
But your blouse is still quite lovely! I adore the blue with the red buttons–how eye catching!
♥ Casey
blog | elegantmusings.com
Hmmmm, from the photos I think it does suit that material and I’d like one similar if my bod looks the same as yours in it!
Love your headscarf!