introducing the isola blouse + dress pattern

It’s my pleasure to introduce you to our new pattern, the Isola Blouse + Dress! This is a gathered-neck blouse and dress with some unique and special details that enable you to change the style significantly and get two dramatically different looks from it. I’ll show you what I mean.

The gathered neck detail is very trendy right now, and with good reason because it’s so feminine and classic. I love this look because it’s a bit demure, but it’s also a great detail to add interest to a design. It’s a terrific way to show off a gorgeous fabric, and it eliminates the need for bust darts. For this style I didn’t go overboard with the gathering because I didn’t want the blouse or dress to be too voluminous, but it’s enough gathering to add texture, softness, interest. and shaping.

This style also includes princess seams and cup sizes to help you get a great fit, raglan sleeves to continue the gathering at the neckline into the full sleeves, a button and loop closure at the back neck keyhole opening, and a bias facing to finish the neckline. This is an easy style to sew and to get a great fit because of the princess seams and the cup sizes, so you can be sure you’ll get a great fit with it. .

For the dress, I’ve included several details that set it apart from the blouse: a waistband at the front with a belt sewn into the ends of the waistband that wraps around to the back and buttons to cinch up the dress. If you wanted, you could also lengthen the belt and turn it into ties, but I liked the more tailored look of the buttons for this style. I think it makes the dress look neat and elegant for almost any situation. The dress also has elbow-length full sleeves, and front on-seam pockets for those of you who love a dress with pockets. (And who doesn’t?)

The blouse still has the princess seams to help you get a great fit, plus it has the optional ruffle collar and full-length sleeves with gathers at the wrist. I really love the sleeves, actually. They’re just the right amount of full: dramatic without being annoying to wear.

I’ve noticed several blouses in shops recently that look a lot like the dress, so it would be fun to play around with the dress belt on the blouse as well.

You can use a variety of fabrics for this style. It works really well in light- to medium-weight woven fabrics, but drapey fabrics are also an excellent option. For these photos I sewed the dress in a medium-weight linen and the blouse in a grid-style eyelet cotton. I’ve also sewn it from in lace, voile, and printed cotton, so I know you’ll have success with a lot of different fabrics. I’ll show it to you in some of the other fabrics soon.

I hope you’ll love sewing this one. As usual, I’ll be back soon with fabric and styling ideas as well as to show you how our testers have sewn it. I’ve been having a lot of fun wearing it. I hope you will, too.

You can pick up your own copy of the Isola Blouse + Dress pattern either in paper format or in digital format for instant delivery. We’re looking forward to seeing what you do with it, so I hope you’ll tag us #lieslandco and #isolablousedress!