Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Vogue 2789: Altuzarra for J Crew knockoff

Sometimes you have a pattern in your stash that you've made a few times.  You like it, but haven't found a reason to revisit it... it's only fault is being too familiar and available. 

Then, you see something someone else has done that makes the design seem fresh and new.  I'd never heard of Altuzarra until I saw the Odette blouse on their website.  Here is my version, which I think comes pretty close to theirs.  I found this stretch gingham at Sew-Lo fabrics, down the street from my house.

Vogue 2789 in turquoise stretch gingham

Altuzarra for J. Crew Odette blouse

Some key differences: the Altuzarra version has 3/4 length sleeves (you can't tell because the model has the sleeves cuffed) and I think it has more ease.  I prefer the long sleeves on mine, which have long tapered cuffs.  I also feel obliged to crow about my "savings," as this was purely a material cost ($5 for discounted gingham and a pattern in my stash for forever) compared to the retail cost of this shirt ($175.)  Things that are the same: Both have tie front, and looking at the photos on the J. Crew website I think that they both have a slight peplum in the back.

Vogue 2789 back, you can see the peplum seam at the waist, making the shirt fitted.  The tapered cuff has 4 buttons.


I've made this shirt a few times before, but in white.  As you can imagine, a white tie front shirt is a bit of a statement, and you only need one.  But gingham totally changes the game, making the design young and fun.

Vogue 2789
This pattern is out of print, but you can get a copy off of Etsy (I saw 3 copies for about $9-$10 this morning), and is easy to sew and great for shirts with feminine details.  I've made view C (the long sleeve version) and view A (tucks and bow sleeves.)  In previous versions of this shirt, I sewed a size 10, but given my new revelation that I'm a size 6 (who would have known it would take years for me to realize that!) I sewed it in a smaller size and am very happy with the fit.

I have a few more projects in photo backlog that I hope to share with you, my sewing friends!  It's been a lovely summer here so far and it's been hard to make time for changing outfits to take photos and writing about them.  I hope that you have been enjoying the longer days and warmer weather, wherever you are. 


12 comments:

  1. Melissa as usual you have done a very good job!

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  2. I like your casual, gingham version. Very fresh!

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  3. I actually have this pattern from years ago but have never made it. I've just never pictured it any anything other than white. But I love your gingham version! It looks young and fresh! Thanks for the inspiration.

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  4. This is great! I love this, seriously love it!

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  5. Looks great. There is a very similar pattern in Burda magazine from 2008 as I recall.

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  6. It looks great on you. I've never seen this pattern before, but it's really cool.

    We have had no weather to enjoy! Since April it has rained. I'm not kidding, either. I think we have had maybe a week or so of sunny days. It's been crazily wet, and apparently it's set to continue. And then it will be winter. I can't stand it!

    Boohoo.

    But I like your shirt!

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  7. I love it, it looks really fresh and interesting - goes to show it's always worth hanging onto older patterns.

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  8. It looks great on you! A very nice knock-off as well.

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  9. Great blouse, I bought a copy of that pattern a couple months ago so I was thrilled to see one of the blouses sewn up and looking for fabulous.

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  10. This is such a neat looking shirt! You did a fabulous job on it.

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