A Gibson Girl Blouse (or three)
After making an Edwardian walking skirt, the next step in building out my wardrobe was to make a blouse to pair it with.
Folkwear is one of my favourite companies for historical patterns as they base everything in extant garments and their instructions are always well-written and easy to follow and their Gibson Girl Blouse pattern is no exception. Featuring optional lace insertion and pin tucks this pattern is straightforward to make and incredibly flattering. It’s even easy to style with more modern garments - a billowy, feminine blouse and a pair of jeans is a great look.
My first version of this blouse was my most historically inspired one with all seams bound with cotton twill tape (in absence of bias tape), pin tucks, ruffled lace, hook and eye closures, and a semi-sheer cotton fabric. I really love the classic look this blouse has and as a lightweight summer option I’m very happy with it; however, there were a few changes that I have made in subsequent blouses due to a couple of fit issues that I noticed.
My first Gibson Girl Blouse with close up views of the lace and pin tuck details.
My second blouse was made from another lightweight cotton - although this one is less sheer due to the darker fabric colour - a muted purple that I find goes excellently with blue jeans.
This was my first project after acquiring an overlocker (or serger for my American friends!) and I really enjoyed the process of figuring out how best to tidy the raw edges - especially where a gathered piece meets a flat one. I love the way the overlocked edges make this blouse feel more professional.
I also lengthened the back piece on this blouse and moved the position of the ties down as I’d found they crept out of my skirt or jeans when I tucked my cream version in which is surprising considering that I’m shorter than average. An extra 1.5” above the ties and redistributing the closures above made all the difference.
Speaking of closures, I decided to use buttons for all but the collar of this blouse as I found the loose fit meant the hooks and eyes would undo themselves on my cream version and it made all the difference. No more accidentally flashing my back at work colleagues when moving around the office!
The second Gibson Girl Blouse and a photo of it styled with jeans.
My third, and most recent, edition of this pattern was entirely unplanned until I walked into my local fabric shop and spotted this blue cotton dobby that screamed out to be made into a Gibson Girl blouse.
The construction is almost identical to the previous iteration with an additional button on the back since I felt they were slightly too spread out. I didn't quite have enough lace to ruffle it around the collar and given the interest of the dobby fabric I didn't feel like it needed lace or pintucks on the front so it's a little more plain but I've found I really love the clean look.
Blue is one of my favourite colours and so this blouse definitely gets the most wear of the three. It's light enough to wear in the summer and with a few historically inspired layers on underneath it's perfect for the winter too. Defintely recommend the pattern to anyone looking to make an Edwardian inspired blouse.
