This month I’ve used New Look 6407 for Minerva using pink with white polka dot fabric.

When you take a closer look at the neckline, you’ll see why I’ve called this post Visible storage.

You’ve heard of visible mending and how visible mending is creative, reduces landfill and reinforces great memories by using materials from a pre-loved garment. My dilemma has been storage. When I store buttons and notions, I have to look through my sewing room to find my spare buttons for shirts and blouses.

However for this blouse, the spare buttons are on the neckline.

These are beautiful buttons and match perfectly with this fabric.

When I planned this blouse, I felt I needed a bit of colour for the lack of interaction we were all feeling earlier this year. This pink fabric is a strong colour and it makes me feel alive. After working from home for so long and wearing muted colours, this pink is what I’ll be wearing when I want to feel more vibrant.

This cotton is also great for a matching mask too.

Back to the buttons.

When I planned this blouse I wanted long sleeves but I wasn’t sure about making traditional cuffs for the sleeves so I ordered 3 extra buttons. One button per cuff and one spare button.

When I wore this blouse last week to a small celebration, everyone love it. The men at the function loved this blouse too. Now this was a surprise because the blokes never comment on the clothes I make. I think this blouse has all the detailing they appreciate in a shirt so I was really pleased to get their comments.

What I will be doing for the next blouse is to add some booty and waist room. This fabric is a good blouse cotton woven fabric with no stretch and it does show where the fit needs to be adjusted for my shape. Let’s be honest, we sew to make clothes that fit well and make us feel comfortable.

I did feel comfortable in this blouse. Proud too.

Construction details:

The collar, collar stand, cuffs and facing are interfaced with an iron on cotton interfacing. I chose like for like. Cotton interfacing for cotton fashion fabric.

I added white ribbon trim, from my stash on the collar and cuff edge. I will probably add button holes to the existing cuffs to make the existing cuffs look more practical, but I’ll wear this blouse a few more times before I make any further changes.

The side seams have a French seam finish.

Styling:

Right now, this is a great blouse to wear with jeans. For next month’s blog post, I’ll make fuschia trousers with Burda 7746. I’ve already added extra room around my hips, where I need it.

For the moment, this is a great blouse for those rare times when I can meet with family and friends. Oh and this blouse is great to wear for Zoom meetings.

If you like the idea of visible storage for your shirts etc, why not try sewing your spare buttons some where cute for your next projects. I love the button range Minerva has and I’ll be storing buttons somewhere visible in the future.

Thanks again Minerva for having a great range of fabrics and buttons for any project.

You’ll definitely find this post and over 260 more posts on my Minerva Brand Ambassador page. I love sewing for Minerva and sharing my makes with you.