Asters and fitting issues

There has been an awful lot of making stuff recently, but no talking about it. I've been a very busy bee after deciding that I wanted some new clothes for my mini holiday, because holidays are a great excuse for new stuff. So I have quite a bit of catching up to do

After last year when I visited London to do some fabric shopping I have been holding said fabrics for something special, especially my Liberty print! I may have mentioned the new Aster blouse from Collette patterns, and how excited I got when I saw it, well I had immediately decided that this blouse was what I had been saving my Liberty for... This time, with flutter sleeves!

(Looking up avoids the dreaded double chin don't you know)

I'm afraid I took these photos on a very bright day (not entirely unheard of in Newcastle), and my poor camera couldn't cope, so the print has all but vanished. This is an oh so soft Liberty cotton lawn which was bought in Misan Textiles in London with little blue flower buds on an off white background...

... Which are a bit more obvious here. I managed to find lovely little blue buttons to match the flowers, the top two show the colour as seen without shoddy photography. I wanted to try the flutter sleeves this time as I thought the lightweight fabric would show them off beautifully, and I must admit, I expected more flutter, but they are lovely... And summery... And quite flattering.

I had some interesting issues with this version. After the wearable muslin that I made in a size 10 came out very big, I decided to make this one in the smaller 8, and still it was too big. This confuses me as the last version was only a little too big Round the neckline, and this smaller size one was even bigger. Usually I just make up my shop bought dress size and hope for the best, but this difference really reminded me how hit and miss picking your right size really is.

This one is much snugger over the bust, and I can only put this down to the fabric I used, that #1 being a heavier cotton isn't very inclined to drape. But in #2 (the Libery one) I had a decidedly gapey neckline. I decided that this simply wouldn't do so I removed the sleeves, took in the side seams, and put the sleeves back with a higher shoulder. This seems to have done the trick. But it has left me very confused which size to cut next time (I obviously still need a long sleeved version).

(Neckline still a bit gapey even after adjusting)

I do still love this pattern, but after this experience (and another top which I will share soon) I have really thought about my shape, and what pattern adjustments I really should be making.