MAKES - NEXUS BLOUSE BY PAPERCUT PATTERNS
NEXUS Blouse
The Nexus Blouse, designed by Papercut Patterns is a go-to blouse all year round; a versatile long sleeve blouse for any occasion. With a button up V-neck, you can choose between a shirt tail hemline or a cropped straight hem. There are two sleeve options available: a wide airy shape, or a cuffed and gathered sleeve with button fastening.
I opted for a shirt tail hemline over the cropped as I tend to tuck my tops into my trousers in hope of making me look a little taller! I decided to make the gathered sleeve as that is what drew me to this particular pattern!
Fabric choice:
I wanted a blouse that could be worn either dressed up or dressed down, so I needed some drape to let it hang, but not too fine as I wanted a little volume for the gathered sleeves. I decided to choose a plain weave Viscose (from sustainably managed sources) fabric, and the Limonade, designed by Lise Tailor seemed to cover those bases in a beautiful stripe pattern with a fun lemon print!
Sewing Instructions:
Sizing: I understand this design is supposed to be oversized and loose fitting, but when I measured myself against their size chart and their finished garment sizes, I felt the finished garment sizes were really quite big, so as I measured just over the Size 3 measurement, I decided to size down and make it up in size 2 which I think was the right decision.
Front and back neck facings: The instructions called for top stitching along the outer edge of the facing. On doing this, I thought the topstitching made the blouse look a bit heavy so I then spent some time carefully unpicking this stitching. I then stitched down the facing at the shoulder seams (stitch in a ditch) and felt that the buttonholes and buttons would keep the facing down anyway.
Sleeve cuffs: On reading the instructions of the sewing pattern, I felt that it was a little odd to have the cuff opening as part of the underarm seam. I decided to go against their instruction, and make a little placket opening up the sleeve instead. I cut up the sleeve where I felt the opening should be and bound it with a little bias strip. Hopefully you can see in the above photo that the cuff hangs nicely in its position.
Also, when making up the cuff, I wrapped it around my wrist and it was huge, so I took an 1 and a 1/4 inch off the width!
Sewing the pattern up along the instructions is pretty straightforward as each step features a clear simple drawing, and is very well laid out in its booklet. A little sewing experience will obviously help speed things up, and would catch the nuances I found myself listed above, but I do think that a beginner would be able to follow the instructions providing they allow enough time and patience to work through it!
Materials used:
- Limonade Viscose (130cm for Size 2)
- Organic Cotton Sewing Thread in Natural
- Corozo Button 2-Hole in Natural 11mm (5 - button stand)
- Corozo Button 2-Hole in Rose Pink 11mm (4 - cuffs)
- Nexus Blouse Sewing Pattern by Papercut Patterns
- Iron-on Interfacing for button stand and cuffs
Overall:
I love the way the fabric works with this blouse. It hangs really well and is so soft against the skin. There is enough structure in the fabric to give the sleeves its statement gathered puffy look without being too much! I think I will make a couple more versions of this with other fun patterns in Viscose fabrics that I like.
I also love the V-neck of this blouse as it's not too low as many sewing patterns tend to be!
I love this blouse, and will definitely be making more versions of this. I'd also like to make one up in a cotton poplin fabric for more volume but maybe in a plain solid colour, to let the volume do the talking!
Check out more of Papercut Patterns here!
And check out the beautiful Viscose fabrics from Lise Tailor here!
Thank you for reading, and Happy Sewing!
"Papercut Patterns is focused on renewable fashion, sustainability, thoughtful design and celebrating individuality. We love our planet and aim to use 100% recycled and recyclable products where possible. Slow fashion, shared passion."