Top of the Eiffel Tower

My third post on topping up my tops and another Gertie pattern. This time it's the Portrait Blouse from her first book "Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing" - yes, it's been out for years and this is the first thing I've actually made from it. I did attempt one of the dress patterns some time ago when I first got it but I had all sorts of trouble with the sizing and never ended up finishing it.

I'm pleased to say the Portrait Blouse was a breeze to sew - quick and easy, it came together in an afternoon. I sewed a size 4 with no fitting changes needed. The waist shaping comes from little dart tucks which I really like the look of. One thing that made it quick was that I used an invisible zipper instead of hand picking one - not quite so vintage but I'm not ashamed to admit it - if I can take a short cut, I will - and if it means less hand stitching, all the better.

The fabric which came from Spotlight is a cotton voile with a cute atomic print with eiffel towers on it. The voile works really well with this blouse and makes a nice cool summer top, I'm pretty certain I'll be making more of these!