Slinky and Sweater – the adrienne blouse in 2 knits

It’s no mystery why the Adrienne Blouse by Friday Pattern Company has 1000+ posts on Instagram. The fitted body and huge balloon sleeves make for a romantic top that looks good on so many bodies and it seems to work with any knit fabric. For my first make of the pattern I used a super stretchy lilac jersey. It hugs my body and the sleeves are drapey and fluid. Six months later, I sewed the Adrienne blouse pattern with a waffle sweater knit and made my first sweater! I’ll happily make more – I don’t think I could tire of this silhouette in my wardrobe.

Its simple pattern pieces make the Adrienne blouse super approachable. There’s only 14 pages to print at home, with the same pieces for back and front of the bodice, sleeves cut on the fold, and neck binding. In addition to the stretch of the knit through the bodice, you can simply adjust the length of the elastic to make the blouse fit better across your shoulders and wrists. That said, if you wear a C cup or larger, you’ll want to use a full bust adjustment to add extra fabric and avoid drag lines. There are clear instructions for the dartless FBA – you just add length to the front. But make sure you mark your pieces after cutting, the difference is so subtle, you’ll hardly be able to tell them apart. I failed to do that and get confused every time I put on my lilac top!

For these 2 fabrics I used very different sewing techniques. Unsure of the fit, I sewed the jersey knit on my sewing machine with basting stitches before going back with the lightning bolt zig zag. The fabric has no fray, so there’s raw edges at every seam. For the sweater knit, I definitely needed to protect the edges. Everything was sewn on my serger except for the hems. I did think it needed a little more ease for the sweater knit though. So I minimized the seam allowances to make it about 1″ bigger around the bodice.

I love my two new tops. They’re simple, but romantic. So similar, but so different. I can’t wait to make more!

Pattern

• Adrienne Blouse by Friday Pattern Company
• Sewing Difficulty – 2/5
  • The instructions are very clear. If you’re comfortable with sewing knits, this will be an easy sew.
• Fit Difficulty – 1/5
  • Very helpful lines provided to lengthen/shorten the body and sleeve.
  • A line was provided and clear instructions were given for doing a dartless full bust adjustment (FBA) with this knit blouse.
• I’m already looking forward to making this blouse again and I’d love to lengthen for a dress!

Fabric

• Stretchy lilac cotton jersey knit from Mood Fabrics
• This fabric was one of the first I bought when I began sewing but I was long too intimidated to sew with such a thin, stretchy knit.
• Mint green waffle sweater knit for Cali Fabrics

Fit & Modifications

• I added 1.5″ to the lengthen and shorten lines for the front and back bodice pieces.
• I did a 3/4″ FBA following the instructions in the pattern to accommodate my cup size
• To maintain the fullness of the sleeve with my long arms, I added 2″ to the sleeves at the L/S line.
• I shortened the wrist elastic measurement by 1″ to better suit my skinny forearms.

Tips

• You can save fabric and ensure you don’t go off grain by cutting flat instead of on a fold. Trace your pattern onto a large fold of paper, lining the fold like with the fold of the paper.
• If you’ve done an FBA, mark the back pattern piece ASAP so you don’t confuse the two. I pinned my label to the back and stitched it on as soon as the neck band was sewn.
• I accidentally pulled the elastic through the shoulder channels too far on my first go. To prevent this from happening, I recommend attaching a safety pin to the elastic on both ends. That way you can feed it back through if you have to.