I can’t seem to get enough of puffed sleeves – the bigger the better in my opinion!
The Vali pattern from Pattern Fantastique is yet another puffed sleeve design to sneak through my recent pattern buying ban. (Ok, ok, it’s a very loose ban but I’m really trying to use what I have and hack/ draft new things instead of just buying more patterns I don’t really need!).
The pattern comes as a dress or blouse and features a really exaggerated puffed sleeve, a yoke with a gathered front and back, closing with a front neck tie. There an option for the neck line to create a deeper V here. I was really drawn to the shape of the neck and sleeve especially where the sleeve starts quite in set in the shoulder which I thought was unusual.
I thought I’d make the blouse version first in case I didn’t like how voluminous it was!
I found an old piece of poly cotton (I think) voile from the deep stash whilst having a clear out a while back and knew it would be perfect for a blouse like this. It’s lightweight and slightly sheer, drapey but the polyester content seems to make it bounce a little which I felt would give a bit of life to that puff!
Making up pattern was a little confusing – I wasn’t a big fan of the instructions at all really. I felt like it had been over complicated and in the end I just followed my instincts to make it.
The actual pattern itself is drafted well. I made the option with the deep V neck which uses two sets of ties to close. The neckline is finished with a facing which in retrospect I should’ve replaced with a full yoke lining due to the lightness of the fabric (the interfaced facing is just a touch too stiff for it).
Despite these small grumbles, I actually really like the pattern! It fits beautifully (not that it’s particularly close fitting!) and I love the shape of it.
The narrowed yoke/ shoulder style meant I didn’t need to worry about where the shoulder seam fell on me which was a nice change!
I don’t know if I’d make the dress version – I think I’d worry about it being a bit too shapeless though considering my recent silhouette choices, I’ve surprised myself with how I feel about this!
