Mini & me.

SEWING THE FRILLED BLOUSE

Please note: Use a piece of fabric to cut the front and back frills to measure.

Blouse made of woven fabric:

Back yoke

Serge the straight fabric edges. Measure around 3-4 cm from the bottom edge and mark the point with a pin. Fold the fabric edges together up to the marking and sew them together. Iron the seam apart.

Blouse made of elastic fabrics:

Cut the rear yoke to measure along the fold.

Place the front part on top of the rear part (small cut pieces with necklines), sew the shoulder seams and then serge.

FRILLS

Serge the frill edges.

Tip: It is not necessary to serge the edges of fabrics like Jersey or French Terry.

You can complete this step with a rolled hem if you have a serger.

If you are using a normal sewing machine – serge in a zigzag pattern, fold inwards by approx. 1 cm and topstitch close to the edge.

Place the frill strip with the wrong sides on top of each other and sew the short edges of the fabric together.

Then gather the strip at the long open edge.

Now pin the finished frill strip to the front and back yoke. You can initially sew the frill on with a staystitch.

Place the front part on top of the rear part (small cut pieces with armholes) and then sew the shoulder seams together. Serge the shoulder seam.

Then pin this part onto the upper part with the frill. Make sure that the centres of the two cut pieces are exactly on top of each other.

You now have three layers of fabric on top of each other with the frill in between. Sew the pieces together and serge the seam.

NECKLINE

While sewing our sample, we noticed that the collar has very little rigidity if very fine and light fabrics are used. As an alternative, we suggest using bias tape to edge the neckline. The neckline is cut without a seam allowance in this case.

Edging the neckline with bias tape.

Use the same fabric to cut a bias tape with a width of 4 cm and length of 1 m.

Mark the centre of the neckline and bias tape with pins.

Unfold the bias tape, pin the right sides to the neckline, starting at the centre and ending at the rear slit.

Stitch onto the fold.

Fold the bias tape over to the other side, pin everything carefully in place, including the loose end pieces at the back (binding tape).

Topstitch the bias tape around the neckline and the binding tape close to the edge.

SEWING THE FRILLED COLLAR

Fold the long fabric strips lengthwise, right sides together, then stitch the short fabric sides. Shape and iron the corners.

Gather the fabric strip, pin onto the neckline and sew in place. Topstitch from the right so that the collar points upwards.

Alternatively: blouse made of elastic fabrics:

Neckline cuff: Width (incl. seam allowance) 7 cm, length: 5 cm shorter than the neckline.

Fold the cuff with right sides together, then stitch the short fabric sides together. Fold lengthwise, stretch and then sew.

SLEEVES

Pin the sleeves to the armholes the right sides together and then serge the seam.

Close and serge the sleeve and side seams.

Serge the sleeve hem edges. Iron inwards, then topstitch and leave a small opening for the elastic band.

Insert the elastic band. Stitch the ends of the elastic band together. Close the opening.

Alternatively: Create the hem using a cuff or collar made of the same fabric.

BLOUSE HEM

Serge the edge of the blouse hem, iron inwards and then topstitch. All done! The stylish Mini & Me outfit is ready for your first outing!