"I can make that!" I said, perhaps a little too confidently, since she immediately replied, "Ok, let's get some fabric!"
So off we went down to the local fabric store where she picked out two glossy fabrics and ribbons for ties -- as luck would have it EVERYTHING was on sale, so we ended up getting the makings for 2 beautiful blouses for only $9! I love sales :)
Unfortunately, since I am not used to thinking about blogging my makery, I forgot all about taking pics of the sewing process! I hope this explanation will be clear.
I cut two rectangles about 25" wide, and to the length that she preferred. Then I sewed the sides up, leaving about 9" from the top down for armholes, and simply sewed a narrow finish in that arm area. Stitching down a wide casing at the neck, I threaded the ribbon through, and hemmed the bottom -- done like dinner. The second one (burgundy) was a bit more difficult as the fabric was much shinier and slipperier than the black multicoloured one, but they both turned out well in the end.
Once she put them on I realized I didn't like the way the bottom looked -- both of these fabrics had some body to them so they seemed a bit stiff. If you used a softer, flowy cotton this probably wouldn't be an issue. Fortunately they were long enough to solve the issue by opening up an edge of the bottom seam and inserting a narrow elastic to create a blouson effect. Looked fantastic! Of course, when you are as tall and slim and beautiful as my sister, everything looks great! Please excuse the headless nature of these photos, she was shy about appearing as a model :)
Here are the images:
