Stash Sewing

Every now and then I get a chance to sew for myself. I try to pull from my stash of goodies....after all I'm not getting any younger and have lots to choose from. I decided to sew a blouse for myself similar to ones given to me as a gift recently. I purchased some really nice fabric at a great discount while at Sewing at the Beach in January (yup...I know...I added to my stash). But the fabric just said "Spring" and "Blouse" to me. I chose some buttons, thread and iron-on interfacing from the stash. But I also pulled out some fabric scraps for contrasting cuffs, collar, sleeve tabs and front tab. This contrasting fabric was from last year's Easter dress for my oldest granddaughter. It worked perfectly with the pink striped fabric! The pattern was purchased online at a steep discount.

 I made quick alterations to the pattern: lengthened the blouse body by 1 1/2 inches, and dropped the darts down to fit me. The cuffs and sleeve tabs had to be pieced with the two fabrics. Easy enough: sew two strips together, then cut out with the seam on the foldline of the one-piece cuff and tab pattern pieces. The collar and front tabs weren't pieced: just cut from the two fabrics, but I had to keep close tabs (sorry for the pun) on which fabric was stitched where.

Here's the finished blouse! One sleeve is rolled up to show the tab. And you can just see the contrasting floral around the neckline.



All told I think I have less than fifteen dollars tied up in this project, with enough striped fabric leftover to make something else. What have you been sewing up from your stash lately? I'd love to know!