folk blouse class

of the four classes i taught at Squam, i may have been the most excited about the Folk Blouse class. the idea was inspired by last year’s SAW, when the building in which my classes were held was shared also by Lizzy House, who teaches printing,  and Rebecca Ringquist, who teaches embroidery. last year i did a Make Your Own T-Shirt class, and it occurred to me that if any of the T-shirt makers were also taking printing or embroidery, they could use those techniques on their tees for a cross-pollinating super Squam project! so this year, when planning my classes, i came up with this idea as a perfect “blank slate” garment, ripe for embellishment of any kind…

this type of blouse (which can also be a dress if it’s just longer), inspired by ones i brought back from my trip to Mexico, is made from a very simple pattern consisting entirely of rectangles. so everyone drafted a quick pattern, based on their own measurements, and we went to town! thanks to Singer, who donated 20 (!) sewing machines to SAW this year, each stitcher had their own machine to use! i had opened the class up to all levels of experience, so some had an easier time than others, but everyone completed (or came very close to it) their shirt or dress in the day-long class. i hope they will all use their patterns again and again, since there are so many ways it can be customized! as evidenced below, by Nancy, who already made herself a new dress in the week since Squam ended:

if i had that adorable dress, i’d be jumping for joy too!