Fabric & Supplies

• The Rita Blouse pattern, of course!
• Your chosen skirt pattern. I used the skirt from the Liz Dress skirt pattern, which is a flared gathered skirt, but you could also use a gathered skirt, circle skirt, or any of your choice, as long as it has a side zipper. Another classic choice for this style is a tiered patio skirt–check out the Patio Dress in the Gertie Sews Jiffy Dresses book. Note: A gathered skirt is super easy to add because you can adjust the gathers to fit the bodice. For any other skirt, you will need to confirm that the circumference of the skirt’s waist matches the blouse’s waist, and that the side seams match.
• Woven fabric for the blouse plus skirt, and any additional fabric needed for ruffles on the skirt and/or bodice. A tiered skirt notoriously uses a lot of fabric, and we went through 8 yards of 45″ wide quilting cotton for this project!
• A 22-inch invisible zipper (instead of the 12-inch zipper recommended in the pattern)
• All other supplies listed in the Rita Blouse pattern
• I added pompom trim to the dress ruffle and hem – totally optional, but totally cute! I also used a row of silver ricrac trim on my skirt tier.

You may also sew the Rita Dress with a knit. If you do, choose a knit that is on the stable side, like an interlock or cotton jersey. (Slinky knits aren’t well suited to garments with a lot of seams like this one, and heavier knits will weigh the skirt down). You will likely want to size down (see this blog post for more info).

Pattern Alterations

• We’ve marked the waistline on the Rita Blouse pattern. Trim the pattern at the waistline mark and add 5/8-inch seam allowance.
• You may wish to remove some ease at the waist for a more cinched look, especially if you are adding any of the Charm skirts with less ease. I removed 1 inch of ease at the waist for this example.
• My recommendation would be to make the pattern as suggested first (in a woven, exactly as instructed), and make any fit adjustments needed to the original pattern before experimenting with a Rita Dress. Many people need to adjust this pattern in the waist (waist adjustments are one of the most common I see in any design) so it’s good to start with the correct fit before trying something new! If this is your first time sewing the Rita Blouse, we’ve outlined all of the steps in our Rita Sew-Along Series.
• Omit any waistband or waist facings on your skirt pattern.
• We added a ruffle to the neckline. Cut a length of fabric approximately 4 inches wide by the length of your neckline opening (before inserting elastic), plus seam allowances.
• We also added a 7-inch wide ruffle to the skirt. Cut a length of fabric 2 to 2-1/2 times the circumference measurement of your skirt hem, piecing it together as needed.

Sewing Instructions

• Sew the Rita Blouse as instructed. Before inserting the zipper, assemble the skirt and attach the blouse to the skirt at the waistline.
• Insert the zipper, flipping it around so that it is right-side up rather than upside-down.
• For the optional neckline ruffle, sew the short ends together to create a circle. Hem the bottom edge of the ruffle and sew pom-pom trim to the wrong side of the ruffle so that it peeks out from the bottom edge. After attaching the Rita sleeves to the bodice, baste the raw edge of your ruffle around the neckline, with the wrong side of the ruffle facing the right side of the dress. Treat as one unit and follow the instructions to sew the neckline casing, lifting up the ruffle so that you only sew the casing through the dress and seam allowance layers (not the ruffle itself).
• Follow the rest of the blouse instructions. Hang the dress for a day and then hem. Add the optional ruffle by hemming both the upper and lower edges first, then gathering 1/2-in from the top of the ruffle and applying directly on top of the skirt hem. Sew pompom trim to the bottom of the skirt and then sew ricrac over the gathering stitches on the skirt ruffle. Note: This method leaves an exposed ruffly hemmed upper edge where the skirt meets the ruffle. Alternatively, you can leave the dress and ruffle upper edge unhemmed, and seam the two together.
• Depending on the weight of your skirt, you may wish to stabilize the waist by sewing waist stay tape or a length of 1/2-inch braided elastic to the seam allowance, stretching it ever so slightly.
• If you are sewing the Rita Dress in a knit, follow the instructions in the blog post. You will definitely want to stabilize the underbust and waist seams with elastic, so the fabric doesn’t become baggy around the midriff or pull down due to the weight of the skirt.

Fabric

Choose a knit that is on the stable side, like an interlock or cotton jersey. (Slinky knits aren’t well suited to garments with a lot of seams like this one, and it would also be a nightmare to make those casings in a slippery knit!). I used a pretty blue interlock from Joann’s.

Fit

• Knits can be fitted slightly smaller than wovens to take advantage of their body-hugging stretch. I made an easy adjustment of just taking in the side seams tapering from the underarm down, using a 1″ seam allowance rather than the usual 5/8″ seam allowance. You could also make a smaller size-but my reasoning for not doing that was that I didn’t want the proportions of the garment to change, just the snugness at the midriff.
• My recommendation would be to make the pattern as suggested first (in a woven, with a zipper), and make any fit adjustments needed to the original pattern before experimenting with a knit. Many people need to adjust this pattern in the waist (waist adjustments are one of the most common I see in any design) so it’s good to start with the correct fit before trying something new!

Construction

• For your major construction seams, use a stitch with a little stretch. I recommend a narrow zigzag (around 1.5 mm wide).
• Use a ballpoint or jersey needle.
• Omit the zipper and ignore any steps relating to the zipper in the instructions. You can just sew the entire left side seam closed when you do the other vertical seams.
• For the casings at the neckline and armhole, I simplified by serging and trimming down the seam allowance by ¼”, and then folded in the raw edge 3/8″ and pressed. Then edgestitch the fold to form your casing. (So you have a single fold casing, rather than double. Knits can be fiddly to press and fold twice.) Use a straight stitch for your casings! This stitching doesn’t actually need to stretch; that’s what the elastic is for.

• I stabilized the underbust seam with clear elastic, since I worried that the interlock would stretch out of shape and look baggy around the midriff after pulling it over my head several times. Sew the underbust seam as usual. I applied 1/4″ clear elastic with my serger, stretching it slightly and trimming down the seam allowance simultaneously. Alternatively, you could trim the seam allowance down to 3/8″, then use a wide zigzag stitch on your sewing machine.

Hemming

I serged the raw edge of my hem allowance and then turned it up 5/8″. I topstitched with a twin needle, which is a really lovely and stretchy finish for knits. (Yes, your machine can use a twin needle! Just install the twin needle and thread two spools of thread through in your machine, threading one thread into each respective needle.)

Alternatively, use a stretchy stitch like a zigzag for hemming.

Foundation Garments

I often wear a structured 50s-style bra with the Rita top, like this merry widow. However, I was reminded why bras with lots of seaming are not a great choice with knits! My bra seams were showing in every picture I took wearing this top (the horror!). There’s a reason there’s something called a “t-shirt bra.” A balconette style bra with wide straps and smooth molded cups would be the best choice here.

These are just my experiences sewing the Rita Blouse in a knit, and I’m pleased with the outcome! Let me know if you have any questions or recommendations.

Just like you did for the casings, you’re going to guide stitch around the hem using a 1/4″ seam allowance, stitching through just a single layer. Next, turn up the hem along the guide stitching so that the stitching is just turned to the wrong side of the blouse. Turn the hem up a second time so that it is doubled. Finally, edge stitch in place.

Here’s a little video breaking down those steps and giving you a close up on the zipper treatment.

And here’s a look at the finished hem:

And that’s all, you’re done! Thank you so much for joining in the Rita Blouse Sew-Along. Don’t forget to share pictures of your finished blouses in the Facebook group!

I wanted to devote a whole post to these two steps, because the elastic fit is really important on this blouse. In one of my early test version, I experimented a lot with the neckline elastic length. I found that it was really tempting to pull the elastic very snug around the neckline–and once I did that, I started noticing all sorts of bust fit issues! The underbust seam was too high, the neckline didn’t look flattering, and I started considering all sorts of major revisions to the pattern. Luckily I had the good sense to try to add length to the elastic, because making it looser was a miracle cure! The underbust seam fell down to where it was supposed to be, and the neckline and bustline looked fabulous.

The elastic lengths given in the pattern are my preferred length, and then they are graded up and down for the entire size range. Will these numbers work for everyone? Of course not! I think they are on the longer side, and that gives you the room to shorten if necessary. However! Please do not pull the neckline elastic too tight! It should not be that snug, it should sit easily on your shoulders without pulling. If pulled too tight, it will create more tension than needed in the neckline and it will also create a poor bust fit.

When testing the fit, also try wearing the blouse off the shoulders, if you plan to do that at some point. See how the fit is when worn that way.

Repeat the fitting process on the sleeves, if you are using elastic there. Again, resist the temptation to pull the elastic too tight. My sleeves have about 1/2″ of ease, they are not tight to my skin.

Once you’re happy with the fit, cut down the elastic if needed, leaving 1″ to overlap.

Now for step 15!

Pull the elastic out gently to overlap the ends by 1/2″ and zigzag them together as shown.

Finally, put the elastic back in the casing and edgestitch the opening closed.

You’ll need to spend a couple minutes now making sure that the gathers around the elastic casings are distributed evenly around the neckline and sleeves.

Next week, we’ll move on to our final step: hemming!

First, sew the sleeves at the underarm seams, right sides together.

Press the seam open.

Now we’re going to sew the sleeves into the blouse. Keep in mind that on a sleeve pattern, a single notch always denotes the front of the sleeve, while the double notch indicates the back of the sleeve. Pin the sleeves into the blouse, matching the underarm seams and the notches on the armhole.

Stitch the sleeve seam, pivoting at the underarm.

Finish the seam allowances as one (they won’t be pressed open), trimming to 3/8 in (1 cm) first if not using a serger (if serging, trim the seam allowances as you serge). Press the seam allowances down (toward blouse).

The whole top of the blouse looks a little funny at this point since it doesn’t have elastic yet!

Next, we’re going to create the casings around the neckline and the armholes. (Forgive me, I took a video of this next portion and then accidentally deleted it! I’m going to try to explain as best I can with the pattern illustrations, but do let me know if you have any questions.)

First you’re going to guide stitch at 1/4″ all the way around the neckline and sleeve hems. This is just a line of stitching through one layer using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Next, go to your ironing board and use the guide stitching to press in that 1/4″ seam allowance. The line of stitching should be turned just to the wrong side of the blouse.

Next, turn the edge in again, forming a double fold. BUT! This time you’re turning it in 3/8″, so check yourself with a ruler or seam gauge as you go.

After you’ve created this double fold on the neckline and the sleeves, you will edge stitch the fold, leaving a 1/2″ gap in your stitching to feed the elastic through. NOTE! If you’re making the flutter sleeve version, do not leave a gap on the sleeves, stitch the hem all the way around. This will create the sleeve hem.

Next, cut your elastic to the lengths indicated in the chart for your size. Please note that these lengths are only a guideline! You may need to shorten them when we’re testing the fit in the next installment, especially if you have narrow shoulders. Better to have to shorten them than lengthen them though!

Starting with the neckline, secure one of your small safety pins through the end of the elastic. Guide the safety pin into the gap in the edge stitching and use the safety pin to slowly squish the elastic through the entire neckline.

It’s a good idea to pin the loose end of the elastic to the blouse so you don’t lose it in the casing. Be extra careful when you get to where the seams intersect. Do not try to force the pin through or back! You may tear your blouse (ask me how I know). If you get into a real bind, it’s better to remove the edge stitching in that small area, and feed the pin through, then go back and fix the edge stitching later.

When you get the elastic to the other side of the casing, pin the ends together.

Distribute the gathers all the way around the neckline; they will probably be bunched into one area.

Repeat this with the sleeves if you are making the elastic sleeve version.

Now your blouse is ready to try on! We’ll be talking about the fit of the elastic in the next installment (spoiler alert: pulling the elastic too tight will create a bad fit in the bust, pulling the underbust up!).

Hope your blouses are going well! Feel free, as always, to post questions here or in the Facebook Group.

But! Before we get to that, there’s step 6, trimming the zipper. On your zipper, cut away the tape above the top zipper stop.

Keep in mind that you may also need to shorten your zipper length. Some zippers are labeled as 12-14″, which really just means that they are 14″ and you’re able to shorten them yourself down to 12″ (just like any other zipper!). If you shorten it, create a thread stop over the zipper at the new length by zigzagging or hand stitching over the teeth.

At the end of the video, I mentioned finishing the seam above the zipper. I use a regular zipper foot for this step (which lets me get closer to the zipper) and start just about 1/8″ away from the zipper line of stitching, leaving a little gap between the two lines of stitching. I did a little zoom-in on the technical illustration so you can see what I mean!

This little gap is what helps you avoid having a pucker at the top of an invisible zipper. Then finish the seam as usual and press open.

I think that’s enough for one day! Next week we’ll move on to the sleeves, elastic casings, and testing the fit. We’re about halfway done now!

Seam Allowances

First, please note that a 5/8″ seam allowance is included on all pattern pieces.

The Princess Panels

This blouse has midriff princess seams, meaning it’s broken up into six panels below the bust. The first thing we’re going to do is sew those panels on the front. You have the Lower Center Front Blouse (Piece 3) in the middle and two of the Lower Side Front Blouse (Piece 4) on the sides. Remember that you have notches on each piece, which will help you match them in case anything gets turned around!

Pin those pieces together on the seams, right sides together. I always pin with my pin heads sticking out so I can pull them out easily when I’m at the machine.

Stitch from the bottom to the top on all these pieces. There is a flare at the hem, and stitching directionally towards the top helps avoid stretching the piece out where it flares.

Repeat the pinning and stitching on the back panels (pieces 5 and 6). Press the seams open. You now have two pieces with three panels each.

Next, stitch the front and back units together, right sides together, at the right side seam only. Keep in mind that this is the right side as you wear it! I always have to hold the pieces up to me to figure out which side to sew. Press the side seam open.

Your entire lower blouse is now constructed!

Gathering the Front and Back Upper Blouse Pieces

First, note that when you look at the blouse in the line drawing, the gathers are a little different on the front and on the back. On the front, the gathers are concentrated under each breast, but on the back, they go all the way across the underbust seam.

This means that you need to do two separate rows of gathering stitches on the front, and just one on the back.

To gather, use a long machine stitch (4-5mm) and stitch at 1/4″ seam allowance and then again at 1/2″ seam allowance.

On the Upper Blouse Front (Piece 1), sew gathering stitches between each set of notches. On the Upper Blouse Back (Piece 2), gather between the notches.

Pull up the bobbin threads to form the gathers.

On the Upper Blouse Back (Piece 2), gather between the notches. See how the back (on top) is gathered all the way across, but the front (below) is smooth at center front?

Next, sew these two pieces together at the right side (just like you did for the lower blouse panels.

Sewing the Upper Blouse to the Lower Blouse

Next we’ll sew the two units together at the underbust seam. With right sides together, match the side seams first, then the notches. Distribute the gathers as needed. Pin and then stitch all the way around.

After stitching, check that all your gathers and seam allowances are flat.

Finish the underbust seam allowance with your method of choice I serged mine together and then press down (toward the lower bodice).

Stabilize the Zipper Opening

And your final step for today! Stabilizing the zipper opening so it doesn’t stretch out when you sew in the zipper. You’re going to take your 1.25″ wide strips of fusible interfacing and cut them to length between the two zipper circles (from the underarm circle down to the hem circle). Fuse a strip into place on each side of the zipper opening, like so:

So you’ll be cutting two strips, one for the front and one for the back, got it? Yay! That’s all for today.

When we come back later this week, it’s zipper time!

Prepping to Cut

First, a note on pre-washing: If you intend to wash your garment in the washing machine, it’s important to pre-wash your fabric the same way. So before you cut, throw that yardage into the wash! (I serge my raw edges first.) For rayon, which is what I’m using, I hand wash the final garment, and it’s not a bad idea to hand wash your yardage first. (I’ll admit that I usually skip this step though since I wash in cold water. I also don’t mind any shrinkage that occurs after sewing since rayon tends to stretch a bit with wear.)

You’ll also want to cut out around each of your tissue pieces before laying it on your fabric. With tissue, I just cut roughly around each piece. For printer paper, I cut on the line exactly since thicker paper is harder on fabric shears.

Cutting Your Fabric

Definitely take a good look at the cutting layouts before you start. This blouse doesn’t take much fabric (hallelujah!) and the cutting layouts were designed to minimize your fabric usage.

You’ll notice that some of the layouts have you fold the selvages in toward the middle of the fabric. This is to create more than one fold, since several of the pieces are cut on the fold.

Here is an example of my cutting layout.

When laying out your fabric this way, make sure that each side is even. I measured the smaller fold of fabric to be sure it was folded in the same amount consistently. (If it’s not, your fabric will be cut off-grain.)

When laying out your fabric, keep a few things in mind:

• First, make sure your cut ends of the fabric are on grain. The easiest way to do this is to cut into the selvage and then rip the fabric.
• When laying out a piece on the fold, make sure that the “cut on fold” bracket mark is exactly on the fold of fabric.
• When laying out a piece with a grainline mark (as opposed to cut on fold), be sure to measure the grainline to the fold or the selvage. Measure from both sides of the grain line to make sure the line is straight, and that your piece is consequently laid out with the grain of the fabric. Here I am measuring the grain line of the sleeve to the fold of the fabric with a clear ruler:

Pin all around your tissue pieces and cut with sharp shears or a rotary cutter.

Marking and Notching

Now that your pieces are cut, it’s time to notch and transfer any markings. I made a little video to guide you.

Serging

Finally, if you are using a serger to finish your seam allowances, please check out the seam finishing guide in the pattern instructions.

You’ll want to unpin your tissue from your pieces and finish those edges. (I still keep them grouped by front/back so I don’t confuse the pieces though.)

Other Seam Finishing Methods

If you don’t have a serger, don’t worry! Just finish your seams as you go with another method of your choice. Two nice options for this blouse are pinking and zigzagging.

See you back here next week for the first sewing steps!

The Size Chart

First, a note on Charm Patterns sizing. My pattern sizes are 2-16 with separate pattern pieces for B, C, D, and DD bra cup sizes. The numeric size is very similar to US Dress Sizes, and also the sizing in my books. (It’s very different from my Butterick pattern sizing, so don’t choose the same size you would for that pattern line.) My sizes differ a bit from ready-to-wear clothing in that my waist-to-hip ratio is larger than most. The size chart is below and it stays the same from pattern to pattern.

As for the cup sizes, they are based on US bra cup sizes. Start by choosing the bra cup size you most normally wear, and then comparing your measurements to the pattern measurements and see if that cup size will work for you. (The cup sizes in the Rita Blouse are quite generous due to the gathers, and I’ve heard reports that the DD is working well for ladies up to an H cup!) You may need to choose a “sister size,” going up or down a cup size depending on your dress size. Don’t get too attached to the number or letter.

Taking Your Full Bust and Waist Measurements

Okay, let’s get to it. The first thing you’re going to do is to measure your full bust, wearing a supportive bra that you plan to wear with the blouse (a style with wide-set straps or strapless style is best). That’s around the fullest part of your breasts, holding the tape measure level to the ground.

Next, measure your natural waist. This is where your body creases when you do the “I’m a Little Teapot” dance move, and it’s probably higher than you think! Keep these measurements written down.

A note on hip measurements: I personally wouldn’t worry too much about the hip measurement for this blouse at this point. The hip measurement on the chart corresponds to the widest part of your lower body, which for me is about 12″ lower than my natural waist. However, this blouse ends 7″ below my natural waist, so that measurement doesn’t really come into play. It’s more important to look at the finished hem sweep measurements in Finished Measurement Chart.

Compare Your Measurements to the Size Chart

See where your measurements fall on the size chart and circle them. You may correspond to a different cup size than you expected, since bra sizing is complex. Keep in mind that it’s really common to fall between sizes, or to your bust be a different size from your waist. We’re not cookie cutters! Luckily it’s easy to adjust the pattern to fit you. More on that later. Before you make any decisions, though, check the finished measurement chart.

Look at the Finished Measurement Chart

This, in my opinion, is the most important piece of information there is regarding fit. The finished measurements change from design to design, depending on the style. To help you understand the amount of ease added to the pattern, there is a small paragraph right before the chart. For the Rita Blouse, there is way more ease than say the Lamour Dress, as they’re totally different styles of garments. Rita is designed to have about 4″ of ease in the bust and 2″ in the waist. This is just a guideline, however, and you may prefer more or less. Given the amount of ease in this particular pattern, if you’re between sizes you can usually size down.

Choose Your Bust Size, and Adjust the Waist Accordingly

One of the biggest areas of confusion in pattern sizing is what measurement to use as your guide when you’re a different size on top vs. bottom. Don’t choose a size based on your waist measurement! Fit to the bust first, and then adjust the waist accordingly. It’s very common to have to add or remove inches in the waist once you have the bust size right. However much you need to add or remove, divide that amount by the amount of seam allowances in the lower bodice. There are a lot of seams, so you may just want to add to the princess seams. For instance, if I wanted to remove or add 2 inches from the waist, I could divide by 8 (two seam allowances per four princess seams), which would give me .25″. Taper in or out from the underbust seam to the waist, adding or removing .25″.

Ask for Help on the Facebook Group!

I think one of the best uses of the Sew-Along Facebook Group is getting advice on sizing. Since it’s a closed group, you can feel free to post your measurements and bra size and get guidance on pattern adjustments.

Any questions about picking a size? Later this week we’ll move on to cutting out your fabric!

The Pattern

First grab your pattern. Here’s a little video tour through the pattern envelope! If you ordered the PDF version, this info is all the first few pages of your file. (You can also find most of this information on the Charm Patterns website.)

Fabric

Next, let’s talk fabric. My absolute favorite fabrics for this blouse are rayons and lightweight cottons like lawn or voile. You can use a heavier cotton like quilters cotton or sateen, but keep in mind that those fabrics are better suited to View A, the elasticized sleeve. View B, the flutter sleeve, works best in a fabric with a soft drape. If you want to go dressier, try a lightweight silk like crepe de chine (but keep in mind that this will be more challenging to sew).

Some of my current choices include these prints from my new collection at Spotlight Stores. The bottom two are rayon challis and the top is a cotton poplin.

Supplies

Here’s the official supply list:

• Fabric (see yardage chart)
• 2 yards of 1/4-inch-wide (6 mm) braided elastic
• 12-inch (30-cm) invisible zipper
• Thread to match your fabric
• About 1/4 yard fusible interfacing or roll of 1 2-inch-wide (30 cm) fusible stay tape to stabilize zipper opening
• 3 small safety pins for threading elastic through casings

And here’s a video talking you through the supplies.

Fusible Stay Tape

I mention fusible stay tape in the video; it’s what I use to stabilize all my zipper openings (this prevents stretching and buckling when you’re sewing the zipper). My favorite product for this is Emma Seabrooke’s Extremely Fine Fusible Knit Stay Tape in 1-1/4″ width. However, it’s just as easy to buy tricot knit fusible interfacing yardage and cut it into strips.

Invisible Zipper Foot

I use an invisible zipper in this blouse because it creates the smoothest finish. A regular zipper may cause buckling on the side of the blouse, so I really recommend the invisible in this instance. (I am a longtime advocate of the lapped regular zipper for most projects, so if I use an invisible zipper, you can bet I have a really good reason!) It’s awesome to have an invisible zipper foot for your machine, but plenty of people use a regular zipper foot too.

Please let me know if you have any questions about supplies! And hey, why not share your fabric choices on the Facebook Group? You know how much sewing ladies love to look at pretty pictures of fabric!