When reviewing my pattern-making tutorials, I was surprised that I had not found the blouse yet. This essential element of the female wardrobe. I am talking about the fluid large shirt made of silk or muslin.

For the first part of this tutorial, I’ll talk about the bodice pattern and then I will continue with the shirt sleeve and some types of collars. I was inspired by the ESMOD book “Become a pattern drafter: women’s garments, Volume 1”

To draft the bodice, start with your basic bust pattern, without darts. (figure 1)

You must then make a few changes (Figure 2).

• From the shoulder line tips, draw an horizontal line perpendicular to the center front (in blue) and extend this line by 1.25 cm
• On the shoulder line, open the neckline by 0.7 cm and continue the shoulder line to the blue line
• On the center front line, lower the neckline by 1.5 cm and by 0.25 cm on the back
• Extend the cross-front and cross-back lines by 1.5 cm
• Parallel to the underarm line, enlarge by 2.5 cm and lower by 3.75 cm
• Enlarge the hip line by 2.25 cm
• Lower the center front by 4 cm and the center back by 6 cm and draw a smooth curve for a “large shirt style”.

Trace the bust outline by joining the new points. If you want to make the shirt more fitted, I recommend waist darts. Personally, if the shirt is made of silk, I prefer it large, without darts.

If you choose a button front, you need to add a button placket to the right of the center front line. The width of this placket depends on the diameter of the selected buttons, and it is about 2 cm. Then add the facing, its width is 1-2 cm longer than the width of the button placket (Figure 3).

You have the shirt bodice now. You will also need the shirt sleeve and to choose the type of collar.
With a little hope and few bank holidays in May, these tutorials should not take too long.