Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Introducing... the Mathilde Blouse Sewing Pattern!


Readers, I’m soooooo excited to share this with you! You can now make your own version of my button-back blouse – aka the Mathilde Blouse!

After numerous requests – and months of resizing, tweaking, testing and writing the most comprehensive instructions you've ever seen – I’ve finally finished perfecting a multisized digital version of the pattern for you to print and sew at home. The pattern costs £7 and is available RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!


The Mathilde Blouse is a cute and versatile garment with an understated elegance. Loose fitting with vertical tucks, gently puffed sleeves and button-back opening, it works well in lightweight drapey fabrics – from cottons to rayons to silks (if you’re game!). Team with bright buttons to create a surprise when you turn around! Dress me up with a pencil skirt or dress me down with skinny jeans. Check out some Mathilde Blouses already made – both by me and by my wonderful testers (thanks you guys!) – in the Maker Gallery.


The pattern comes with not one but TWO versions of the instructions:

1) Simplified paper instructions
If you’re an experienced stitcher and just want to crack on with it, you can print out a simplified, text-only summary of the instructions. Complete with handy tickboxes to celebrate your progress!

2) Detailed digital instructions
If you haven’t sewn many things before, or if you are a visual learner, or if you would just like some guidance with a particular technique, the digital version of the instructions will hold your hand at each stage with step-by-step photo tutorials. Over the next few weeks, a new post will be added to the How to Make a Mathilde Blouse web page almost daily, building up to form a sewing workshop in everything you need to know to create your own version. We will cover various topics and techniques along the way, from understanding interfacing to fashioning beautiful tucks, from setting in a sleeve to stitching French seams. You can sew along as the posts go live, or you can bookmark the page and revisit any page you need whenever you need it. Check out everything we’ll be covering.


Get your Mathilde Blouse sewing pattern here!


Thank you soooo much to everyone who has helped me with this - Mel, Claire, Suzy, Sarah, Lauren, Sarah, Zoe, Marie, Mai, Helene, Jaimie... and last but not least James and Sara R xxx

[Soundtrack: ‘Mathilde’ by Scott Walker]
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Posted by Tilly at 4:31 pm
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114 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh! I'm so excited! I love this blouse and so want to make one for myself!

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  2. squeee! this has just thrown out all other sewing projects! congrats on your first pattern, Tilly! Amazing achievement... I can't wait to make my own!

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    1. Ooh thanks Shivani - you're my first customer! I was hoping you'd like it...

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  3. Yay! Congrats Tilly! It's adorable and I'm already plotting to make it as a dress :)

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    1. Thanks Christine! Yes, definitely has dress potential. I'm going to do a how to on converting it into a dress at some point... but I'm sure you already know how to do that!

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  4. Amazing... Congratulations on your sewing pattern! so excited!

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  5. So exciting!! Your blog is one of the reasons I started sewing. Following along with you as you've learned has certainly inspired me, so it's so exciting that I finally get to try one of your designs. I'll be making my own straight away--I can't wait to give it a try! I'll also be sure to give you a shout-out on my blog this week!

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  6. Does the pattern have any darts? (Asking on behalf of my fellow curvy sewists)

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    1. It has bust darts and hangs loose from there downwards.

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  7. Wow this is fantastic. Do you think altering the sleeves would be difficult. I cant pull off sleeves like that bit love the bodice and back details

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    1. That depends on how confident you are either mixing up pattern pieces or adjusting pattern pieces yourself. In theory, there's no reason not to! I'm planning to do a sleeve variation at some point (once I've got my breath back!).

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  8. Tilly, you already know how much I loved working with this pattern and how much I adore the end result. And I have never come across such comprehensive instructions in my life, they're more like a sewalong! Thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of your journey...I'm over the moon for you and can't wait to see Mathilde 'go viral' ;o) xxx

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    1. Thanks Marie! It was great to have you as a tester. I LOVE LOVE LOVE your version of the blouse.

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  9. Yay, I was hoping you'd release this pattern! It's such a lovely piece.

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  10. How exciting! I was just moaning the other day that I find it hard to find blouses I like. Mathilde is gorgeous. Do you think she would work with slimmer sleeves, so I could wear her under a cardigan more easily?

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    1. There's no reason not to change the sleeves. Also, if you make it in a lightweight fabric they fit under cardigans fine - I wear my poly versions with cardigans all the time.

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  11. This blouse is so beautiful! It looks so sweet!
    I think I'm not in the "blouse level" yet, but I'll save it for later :)

    Congratulations!

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    1. Thank you! Hope you'll try it before too long...

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  12. Fantastic stuff! I'm sure it'll be a hit as it's gorgeous! I'm glad I could be of some help :)

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  13. Congratulations for the pattern!!

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  14. Giant sized congratulations Tilly, what a fabulous achievement, Wahay! I'm sure the whole of the blogosphere will want to make this pattern, your versions are all, without fail, completely gorgeous. Xx
    PS. I've just bought the pattern a second ago, I can't wait to make it! x

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  15. Congratulation on your first pattern! It will no doubt be a huge succes :)

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  18. Oh my goodness! This is fantastic! When I saw the original I loved the sleeves so much I tried to find a similar pattern for the perfect fabric that I bought last Thursday. I will being getting this asap. Thank you! :)

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  19. I've just bought the pattern :) I've only been sewing for a few months, but I'm going to sew along with your step-by-step photo tutorials and hope for the best!

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    1. Yay! If you get stuck, let me know and I'll try to help.

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  20. Mathilde is absolutely gorgeous. I might want to turn her into a dress :-) congrats on your first pattern.

    Trine

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  21. This is lovely Tilly - I can feel a purchase coming on soon :) x

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  22. Tilly, what exciting news this is! There has been so much love for all your button back blouses already that I just know this is going to be a hit! What a clever lady you are!

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  23. Gorgeous! I've been coveting one of these ever since you made your first. I made a resolution not to buy any new patterns until I have used at least four from my stash, but I may just have to cheat a little.

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    1. It's only a digital pattern so doesn't count :)

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  24. Ooh congratulations on your first pattern! I did wonder if you were going to bring out a pattern line! This pattern looks versatile as well - I can see it being adapted to make a dress!

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    1. I'm not sure about a whole line... let's see how this one goes!

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  25. This is wonderful, Tilly! Congratulations on your first pattern! May there be many more in the future :)

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    1. Thanks Rebecca! The course paid off x

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  26. What a wonderful achievement Tilly this is fantastic - well done and good luck! I am full of admiration! Xxx

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  27. Congratulations Tilly! I had a feeling after I saw your post the other day that you would be bringing this out - well done!

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  28. Oh, that's so exciting! Congrats on your first pattern, looking forward to seeing what other beautiful designs you come up with

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    1. I have a folder bursting with designs... which one to pick next?

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    2. The pussy bow blouse!! I really love the pussy bow blouse. The Mathilde blouse is really nice also, but I don't think the sleeves would look good on me. Congratulation on this! This is really amazing!

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  29. Awwww yeah!! This is such exciting news, Tilly! I'm so happy for you - and I can't WAIT to see everyone's blouses! Super big snaps to you!

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  30. So exciting!!! Congrats to you! And I love seeing all the tester's pics, it just makes me want the pattern more :)

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    1. The tester versions are lovely, aren't they?

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  31. Yay Tilly!!! Will buy one straight away. Just got a gift voucher for the fabric shop so I think I know what fabric I'll be looking for!!

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    1. Hurrah! Which fabric are you going for? I'm so excited to see!!

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    2. Perhaps some new season Liberty!

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    3. Perhaps some new season Liberty!

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  32. Ahhhh... this is so great Tilly! Just ordered my pattern from you :)

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    1. Aw thanks Claire! We can pick out fabrics in Walthamstow on Saturday...

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    2. ;) indeed! I've got 18 pieces of fabric to share at Stevie´s meet up so I think I'll allow myself a purchase or two for my new blouse.

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  33. Yay I just bought the pattern,so excited to try it! :) Congratulations on the pattern:) Good job!
    I've only been sewing a few months, but Love your blog so much. You are very descriptive in your 'learn to sew' posts..
    We'll see how I go with my Blouse;)

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  34. Awesome. I love the blouse, especially the sleeves.

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    1. Thank you! The sleeves got puffier with every iteration of the pattern!

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  35. This is really pretty, but that aside, this is an accomplishment! I read all the way back to when you were learning to sew, and now you're selling your own patterns. If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is!

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    1. Thank you so much! I feel so happy to have found something I really really love doing :)

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  36. Yay! Congratulations on the pattern! I can't even imagine how much time, patience, nerves it requires! Amazing job! I hope to see your project grow ^^

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    1. A crazy amount, I tell you! I can't quite believe how much work it took to set everything up... and I nearly chickened out of clicking "publish" right at the last minute. So glad I did though!

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  37. Love this! Congrats on your first pattern! Now I have another pattern to sew and share on my blog!
    *giggles gleefully*

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  38. Love it! I look forward to making my own Mathilde!

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    1. Thank you! I look forward to seeing your version.

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  39. Congratulations on accomplishing a Herculean project. My thoughts have been with you quite a bit these days as I am struggling with creating illustrations and instructions for my 3rd pattern.

    Well Done!

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    1. Great! It's hard work, isn't it? Keep going though - it'll be worth it!

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  41. Wow Tilly, huge congratulations, this is adorable!!!! I love the details, and am super impressed that you've created a pattern for others. Mega achievement :-)

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  43. Mahoosive congratulations! It makes me want to lie down in a darkened room, just thinking about all the work that's gone into this. I'm really looking forward to seeing the different versions cropping up in the blogosphere. The blouse is so open to people giving it their own unique touches. I particularly like the tucks and the buttons. Hmmmm, might have to buy two metres of something down Walthamstow market this weekend...

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    1. Aw thanks Karen. It makes me want to lie down in a darkened room too. Maybe a stiff cocktail in Walthamstow tomorrow will do the trick instead...

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  44. Woohoo and congratulations! I am so excited! This is going to be a massive hit amongst the blogging world I am sure - I am soo much looking forward to stitch this up! :-)

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    1. Aw that's so sweet, thanks Solvi!

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  46. Congratulations, Tilly! I boughht Mathilde last night. I commented then -twice - but my silly ipad would not publish. So, try again. I think it's really inspiring that you have done this. I have been reading your blog pretty much since the beginning and it's amazing to see how far you have come with your sewing. You are such a champion of indie sewing companies that this seems very fitting (oh dear, no pun intended!). Well done, you! I will hopefully get round to sewing my own Mathilde asap. Will see if my toddler lets me. Brilliant also to see the other versions created by the other sewing chicas.

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    1. Forgot to say...I tried to open the link to the pattern on the aforementioned silly ipad and forgot that this was not possible. I tried a while ago with a grainline pattern and as I tried more than two or three times I ran out of 'goes' and had to contact Jen. I only clicked once with Mathilde. I will try to open on the laptop. I will contact you if I have a problem though. I am a dunce! Thanks.

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    2. Yay! Thank you Catherine, that's nice of you to say. Yes, email me if you run out of download attempts.

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  47. So exciting! You must be feeling happy and exhausted!
    The pattern looks great and I'm keen to take a crack at it. One essential question though, how easy is it to do the back button-ups up without a helper? This is the only part that makes me nervous, I'm getting increasingly unflexible as I age :)
    It would be super-interesting to hear about your creative process around this. What made you decide to take the leap?

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    1. Haha good question! It depends on a couple of things - firstly, how loose you make it, and secondly, whether you can reach over and/or under your shoulder. The first version I made (which is a bit smaller than the pattern) requires stretching - but I can get it on fine with the middle buttons already done up, so I've only got the top and bottom one left. The most recent version I made is a little bigger and slips on with no buttoning required.

      That's sweet of you to ask about my creative process... hmm... maybe you could interview me on your blog?

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  48. Congrats! That's so exciting and well deserved!

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  49. I loved it at first sight! And now I'm eager to buy the pattern and make one my own! thank you so much for writing down it! It's gorgeous!!

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  50. Awesome, just awesome. Best of luck to you in this new endeavor! I'll be all over this blouse pattern once I don't have a giant basketball belly. Love those tucks!

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    1. Haha thank you! I'd love to see you make this.

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  51. Aaaah, Congratulations Tilly! Well done you :) Love it in the chambray too!
    Px

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  52. I've got a few other blouses I need to make first, but I love this pattern and hope to make it soon! I'm in the U.S. and was wondering will PayPal just convert from pounds to dollars?

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    1. Great! PayPal will show the amount in £ but then should convert it into US dollars for you when they take your payment. You don't have to have a PayPal account to buy the pattern - you can click the second option to pay by debit or credit card if you prefer.

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  54. I can't wait to make this! Just found your blog this week and I've totally devoured it. Gorgeous things, awesome tutorials. The picnic skirt - swoon! Thanks Tilly!

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  55. Super duper exciting! I just love your blouses!! I can't wait to see what else you have up your sleeve!!

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  56. Hi Tilly, I just finished making a Mathilde as my first EVER clothing sewing project (just stuck to curtains before!). Your photo instructions were so clear, I now have the confidence to tackle other projects that dont come with the same 'hand holding'! Will send a picture soon-am planning my next Mathilde already!

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  57. I cannot tell you how much I love this pattern, but as I'm a plus size (UK 22-24), sometimes I think that full bust adjustment for this pattern would be too much. Do you think it's doable? Because I really, really, reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally want to make this blouse for myself (this would be the first attempt for set-in sleevs instead the Dolman/batwing style that I also love).

    Thank you very much for all your advised becasue your course to learn to sew is invaluable.

    Regards from Scotland!!!

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