One afternoon recently when the house was in dire need of a good vacuum I decided to make myself a new shirt. Vacuum house or sew?

Sew new top of course.

Apart from wanting to avoid housework, Made by Rae is hosting her annual Spring Top sewalong and I wanted in on some of that sewing-for-self fun.

I was super excited to see that Toni from Make It Perfect had started to make some of her patterns available for PDF download so I purchased her new Waterfall Blouse pattern and a couple of hours later I had a new shirt. Yippee!

Do you want to see some awkward photos? I really dislike having photos taken of myself but I know you probably want to see how a finished garment looks on a real person so I dived headfirst out of my comfort zone just for you guys. Everything I do is for you, ok. Don’t forget that.

What am I supposed to do with my hands at a time like this? Probably not grip the sides of the shirt. All garment modeling 101 advice welcome!

The Waterfall Blouse is designed to be either maternity wear or a regular shirt. I’m not pregnant though, in case you were wondering. The gathers towards the middle give the blouse the fullness that would accommodate a growing baby bump. I’m going to make this again and next time I will ease the gathering a little so there is less attention on the bump area.

I really like this shirt and especially love the neckline. I think a neckline can either make or break a garment and this one makes me really happy. I loathe making bias tape (am I the only one?) so I used pre-made cotton lawn bias binding to finish the arms and neck. As double gauze tends to fray I sewed french seams on the sides, shoulders, and under the arms so I can throw this in the washing machine worry-free.

Look! Something really funny is happening on the ground. And what should I do with my hands this time? Put them on my bum, is what.

The fabric is metallic pocho from 2013 nani IRO basic collection. I feel ready for Spring!