I love it when you see a fabric collection, fall in love with it, and then wait for the right pattern to find you. That’s what happened with me, the Ellie Whittaker collection at Blackbird Fabrics, and this Swanton Blouse by Cashmerette. I swooned over Ellie Whittaker’s colorful designs from the moment I first laid eyes on them. In a perfect world, I would have ordered everything from her collection! But alas, that wasn’t feasible, so I waited. When Swanton was released as the Cashmerette Club pattern for October 2024, I KNEW I needed to make it.
Vintage-style plus size patterns are soooo hard to come by! And I’m talking about patterns actually made with plus size bodies in mind – not just straight sized patterns that are scaled up after years of backlash and broken promises (iykyk). Now that I had a silhouette in mind, it was easier to decide on which fabric to choose. In keeping with the pattern’s vintage vibes, I chose the Sweetpea Organic Cotton Sateen in pale pink, wisteria, and light elmwood. Paired with my beloved and oft-worn Closet Core Mitchell Trousers in lilac linen, I feel feminine, floaty, and effortlessly chic.
The colors of the fabric are so soft and dreamy, that I can understand why this fabric is currently sold out. The fabric feels smooth as silk against my skin, but has the sturdiness of cotton, which really helped while sewing. Sweetpea features a whimsical floral pattern using a breezy, vintage-inspired pastel color story. It’s what’s your grandmother would wear around the house if she were a fashion model in the sixties, but now teaches design part-time at the local community college: refined retro, endlessly chic, but still contemporary.
The Swanton Blouse is an intermediate pattern featuring princess seams, three collar options, and the ability to mix and match sleeves with the Vernon shirt. If the pattern’s intermediate rating scares you, it’s okay. Unlike other subscription-based sewing services, many of Cashmerette Club’s sewalong videos are public. I love this because I cannot count how many times I’ve gone to sew a pattern from months, or even years past, have gotten stuck on a tricky part and not been able to access the sewalong video. I understand that that’s the nature of subscription-based services, but it still sucks. Anyhoo, the sewalong really came in clutch when it was time to sew the covered placket. I’ve sewn a few covered plackets, but each pattern company has diverse ways of sewing them, so the video really helped to clear any confusion. Other than that, the instructions for the rest of Swanton were easy to follow and I was able to finish my pussy bow blouse in a weekend.
