A Bevy of Blouses

I'm lacking in tops to wear to work under jackets and cardis, so I'm going to make a slew of them for spring, and have made a few blouse fabric purchses recently:

WinMil Fabrics in Boston had a rainbow of colors of silk charmeuse: I picked up a cream (goes with everything!) and a super-happy bright yellow.

L - cream silk charmeuse, M - Milly silk, R - yellow silk charmeuse

I've never worked with silk charmeuse, and may have to underline so they're not too slick to work with.  Though it'd be such a luxury to have these against my skin...

The middle fabric is a 100% silk by the designer Milly from Metro Textiles in New York.  I just love the equestrian-esque print, and in my favorite colors - neutrals.

I've finally decided to become a big girl sewer and begin using "real" (i.e. non-JoAnn Fabrics) interfacing.  I purchased a few yards from Emma One Sock - Linda advised that this is interfacing that designers work with.  I'm excited to use it.  While at the (online) store, I couldn't resist throwing a few bolts into my (online) cart.  The fabric on the left is a crosshatch print silk/cotton in lovely olivey-tones (now sold out, but looks like new colors in this print were added yesterday).  I thought the colors were rather unusual and not often seen in RTW.  The fabric on the right is a sheer rose print silk by designer Thakoon.

L - silk/cotton print, R- silk Thakoon rose print, both from Emma One Sock

Both of these will need to be underlined because they are rather sheer, especially the Thakoon silk.

I have a few shell patterns in my stash: Simplicity 2599, McCall 5977, and McCall 5661. 

Simplicity 2599

McCalls 5661

McCalls 5977

I planned to use all 3, but Joanne recently indicated that M5977 had to be taken in significantly for it to have shape.  Interestingly, I compared both patterns, and S2599 is much wider!  Perhaps I'll use the details of M5977 on S2599, which I know fits well since I made it last spring.  This is by far my most-worn sewn wardrobe piece - I wear it constantly. It's made from a cheap cut of silk dupioni from JoAnn's: I don't think the top cost more than $10 to make.  Cost per wear is into the pennies at this point.