A review of the Bloomsbury blouse sewing pattern by Nina Lee London  

The Bloomsbury blouse by Nina Lee London is a pattern that I have been admiring for quite some time.  Super feminine, lots of pretty details, a cool ruffle – a bit of a statement blouse.  This year I was determined to try this pattern.  So I set out on a mission to find the perfect fabric and to get my Bloomsbury blouse sewn up.  In this post I share all about how I got on…

The pattern

Nina Lee has a really cool range of patterns all inspired the city of London.  The Bloomsbury blouse is one of Nina’s earlier patterns.  It is an Edwardian inspired blouse with a high collar, a yoked bodice with ruffle, a button back fastening and bracelet length sleeves.  There is an option to add ruffles to the high neck and to the sleeves.  The yoke ruffle also comes with two size options: a larger statement ruffle or a more understated delicate ruffle.

I decided to make a version of the Bloomsbury blouse with the larger yoke ruffle but with no ruffles on the collar or sleeves.  I really wanted the yoke ruffle to be the star of the show.

The fabric

The Bloomsbury blouse is designed for lightweight woven fabrics for example cotton lawn. 

For my version I decided on a really beautiful viscose crepe fabric by Atelier Brunette, which I purchased from Minerva (link to fabric here).  The fabric is called ‘dune’ and is inspired by grass blades blowing in the dunes along the Mediterranean coast beaches.  The fabric is available in several very pretty colours.  I chose the ‘night’ colour.

I chose a viscose crepe for this blouse because of its lovely drape.  I wanted to make the blouse with the larger yoke ruffle option but I did not want the ruffle to be too voluminous.  I thought a crepe fabric would be perfect for giving a softer, more floaty look to the large ruffle.

Choosing to sew the Bloomsbury blouse in a crepe fabric did make this a slightly more fiddly sew, as crepe is less stable to work with than the recommended cotton lawn.  I took my time when sewing with the fabric.  I used a size 60 microtex needle and my walking foot.  I tried to treat the fabric as gently as possible.

Sizing

Nina Lee’s newer patterns are available in an extended size range of up to UK size 28.  However unfortunately the Bloomsbury blouse is only available in UK 6-20 (from bust 32 inches up to bust 46 inches).

My measurements are bust 32 waist 26 hips 36.  Based on the size chart this would put me in a size 6 for bust and size 8 for waist and hips.  My previous experience of Nina Lee sewing patterns is that they are fairly fitted.  So I decided to take the time to grade between a size 6 at the bust and a size 8 at the waist and hips according to my measurements.

I am happy with the overall sizing although I did make a few adjustments as outlined below.

Adjustments

I made the following adjustments to the Bloomsbury blouse sewing pattern:

1. Blouse length – I lengthened the blouse length by 1.5 inches to ensure there was plenty of length for me to be able to tuck the blouse into my jeans.

• Armscye – I decided to scoop a little extra room out of the armscye to ensure that the fit around my armholes was not too tight.  I scooped out about 1cm at the bottom of the armhole on the bodice (and then also widened the sleeve pattern piece at the armhole seam accordingly to fit this slightly larger armhole).  This is an adjustment I have made on a few recent makes after having found toiles came up a bit snug in this area.  I did not plan to make a toile of the Bloomsbury blouse but I knew that the Bakerloo blouse by Nina Lee came up a bit tight for me in this area so I thought it was a prudent adjustment to make.

• Back yoke fastening – I added a button and buttonhole on the back yoke of the blouse.  The blouse calls for buttons at the back from the ruffle down but not on the back yoke piece. I was concerned that with no button on the yoke, this part of the back bodice would gape – especially in the drapey crepe fabric I had chosen.  I had already cut out the back yoke pattern pieces before I decided to make this adjustment, so I had no scope to add extra width to the fabric for a full button placket on the back yoke.  So instead, to make it work, I interfaced the back yoke pattern piece with a strip of 1.5cm wide interfacing.  I then turned under the centre edge by 0.5cm and then by 1.5cm and edge stitched (instead of turning under by 1cm and 1cm again as per the pattern instructions). This created a narrow interfaced placket for me to sew a button and buttonhole.  I am glad I made this adjustment.

Sewing process

The pattern is rated as intermediate skill level.  I would agree that it is definitely a sewing pattern you should only take on if you already have some sewing experience under your belt.  There are some very fiddly bits in the construction, particularly around attaching the yoke with the ruffle and also sewing the collar.

Other than those fiddly bits, the pattern comes together nicely.  I like Nina Lee pattern instructions a lot. They include a good amount of detail and the pictures are nice and clear.

This pattern isn’t a speedy sew as there are some fine details and quite a few steps.  It is worth taking its time over to ensure a good finish, especially when it comes to the yoke ruffle.

I decided to sew my blouse using enclosed seams throughout.  For most seams I used French seams.  For the yoke ruffle seam, I made bias binding out of the crepe fabric and bound this seam with the handmade bias binding.  I am really glad I took the time on finishing the seams in this way as the fabric is delicate and I hope that these seam finishes will help preserve it as long as possible.

Summary

The Bloomsbury blouse is a really pretty blouse pattern and I think the ruffle yoke gives it that extra special touch.  I really like how my version has turned out in a viscose crepe.  I think that if I made the blouse again I would choose another fabric with a lot of drape, as I love how it gives the blouse a floaty, romantic feel.

It is a more fiddly sew but I think very satisfying and definitely worth spending the time on.  I am looking forward to pairing my blouse with jeans and trainers for a relaxed look and with a pair of smarter trousers and heels for an evening out too.