Pussy Bow Blouse with Puff Sleeves
A fitted women's blouse with a long tie collar that forms a V-neck and ties at the front, sleeves gathered at the cap and finished with buttoned cuffs, and an invisible zipper in the left side seam.
When To Wear
- For the office with a pencil skirt or tailored trousers, collar tied in a bow.
- Under a jacket in spring and autumn, or on its own in warm weather.
Key Design Features
Silhouette: Fitted, shaped by bust and waist darts on the front and shoulder and waist darts on the back.
Length: Hip length, with a curved hem.
Collar: One-piece tie collar cut on the fold, folded lengthwise; the stitched ends are left free to tie, and the collar is set into the V-neckline from the front corners.
Sleeves: Above-elbow set-in sleeves, gathered at the sleeve cap. Each has a slit finished with bias binding (0.5–0.7 cm wide) and an interfaced cuff with one button and buttonhole.
Front: One piece with no opening.
Back: Two pieces with a centre back seam.
Closure: Invisible zipper set into the left side seam between two marks.
Finishing: Seams overlocked; hem turned up and topstitched.
Level Of Difficulty
Intermediate. Bound sleeve slits, cuffs, a gathered sleeve cap, a tie collar set into a V-neck corner and an invisible zipper in the side seam.
Fabric Recommendations
Blouse fabrics of natural or blended fibres.
Additional Supplies
- Fusible interfacing (cuffs)
- Invisible zipper
- 2 buttons
Cutter's Must
- From main fabric:
- Back - 2 pieces
- Front - 1 piece
- Collar - 1 piece on fold
- Sleeve – 2 pieces
- Cuff – 2 pieces
- From fusible interfacing:
- Cuff – 2 pieces
Sewing Instructions
- Fuse fusible interfacing to the cuffs.
- Stitch the shoulder, waist, and bust darts on the back and front pieces. Press the waist and shoulder dart allowances towards the center of the piece, and the bust dart allowances upwards.
- Stitch the center back seam, press allowances to the left side and overlock.
- Stitch the shoulder seams, press allowances towards the back and overlock.
- Overlock the left side seams separately. Stitch the left side seam from the armhole edge to the first mark and from the second mark to the bottom. Press allowances open, insert the zipper. Stitch the right side seam, press allowances towards the back and overlock.
- Fold the collar in half lengthwise, right sides together, and stitch the ends up to the mark "o". Clip the allowances at the mark, trim the corners, turn the collar right side out, straighten, and press. Stitch the outer of the collar to the neckline, clipping the allowance at the corner of the front, turn under the inner and topstitch into the seam.
- Cut a bias binding for the sleeve slit, 18*3 cm in cut. Mark the closure line on the sleeve, cut the sleeve along the line. Lay the sleeve flat along the cut line and finish the slit with a binding seam with a closed edge. The binding width is 0.5 – 0.7 cm. The seam width along the length of the slit is 0.5 – 0.7 cm, decreasing to 0.2 cm at the top of the slit. Stitch and overlock the sleeve edges.
- Fold the cuff in half lengthwise, right sides together, and stitch the side edges. Start and end the stitching strictly at the marked cuff attachment seam line. Turn the piece right side out, press. Attach the outer side of the cuff to the sleeve, fold the allowance of the inner side of the cuff inwards and topstitch into the attachment seam of the outer cuff.
- Along the upper of the sleeve cap, make a basting stitch with loosely pulled stitches and gather. Set the sleeves into the armhole, matching the notches. Overlock the allowances and press towards the sleeve.
- Make buttonholes and sew buttons on the cuffs.
- Overlock the bottom edge, press to the wrong side and topstitch.
