The Mara Blouse

I enjoy sewing children's clothing, but have little reason to do so. We don't have little ones, and there are no nieces or nephews in our immediate families. Years ago, I found any excuse I could to sew little clothes. To justify my obsession, I added Oliver+S patterns to my online store and co-hosted the Ice Cream Social and the Jump Rope Dress sewalongs. My closet full of children's clothing made me unreasonably clucky though, and I had to step away from little frocks.

Last year I stumbled on the Compagnie M website and couldn't resist the urge to join the tiny tailor army once again. I ordered digital copies of the Mara blouse and the Louisa dress.

When I mentioned to my friend Kim that I wanted to make a few little clothes, she kindly sent me some of her Tidal Lace fabric; it was perfect for the job.  Along with the fabric, she also sent a one pound box of proper American Cheerios - double cause for celebration.

For my first Mara blouse, I used the coral colorway of the Shimmer print for the main fabric. Rather than using bias, I created a flange (or peeper) at the neckline using the Starlight print. The Mara pattern is easy to follow, well-detailed with plenty of options and suggestions for customization. I opted for the split butterfly sleeves. I've still got a few buttons to add to the yoke, but it's close enough to call it a finish.

This little top is for my friend Alys. It will be a year or more before her tiny one is ready to fit in it; but that gives me plenty of time to find the buttons, right? Do you ever get a hankering to sew things you don't really need?  Sometimes you just have to run with that urge.