SIM2015: Ribbon and Zipper Olive blouse hack: a tutorial at Lolita Patterns

One of the things we the designers do as part of Sewing Indie Month is post tutorials that reference each others' work - read a great summary of what's been going on last week is on Skinny Bitch Curvy Chick's blog! As part of the series, I made a top that combines my design aesthetic with Lolita Patterns' beautiful Olive Blouse pattern, and Lolita Patterns posted my tutorial of how to make this top.

In the tutorial I show you how to hack Lolita Patterns’ Olive blouse pattern to create a contemporary version of this look along with the Kinga skirt (sold exclusively through the SIM 2015 Bundle #2 sale, pre-release!).

Ribbons are an obsession of Central European folk wear, you can even see it in the work of contemporary fashion designers, like Lena Hoschek's ribbon skirt. The Olive pattern has a great shape through which to combine the most important elements of both: princess seams, a sweet peplum, and a distinctive straight waistband piece which is perfect for displaying a wide floral ribbon.

I used a vintage ribbon I found in a thrift shop a couple years ago, but you can find beautiful folk art ribbons at M & J Trimmings or Etsy. The width of the ribbon is the same as the width of the waistband of the Olive. The separating zipper is one of those gorgeous, way-too-expensive Riri zippers one gets seduced into buying when going to Pacific Trimmings. I got it cut to the exact length I needed, the tutorial tells you how to figure that out.

Hop on over to the Lolita Patterns blog to read the tutorial!