Mood DIY: How to Sew a Ribbon Tie Blouse

September is the month of transition outfits. You’ll leave the house in the morning with a hot coffee and a jacket, and then be sweating by lunch. The easiest fix? Lots of light layers. (Say that 5 times fast!)

High necklines are trending this season, so I decided to make a silk blouse with a gathered collar. I also added elastic into the seam, so the ribbon is all for decoration!

Fabric & materials used:

• 1 yard Donna Karan Plum Italian Stretch Silk Georgette
• 3 yards 7/8″ Black Single Faced Satin Ribbon
• 1/2 yard 1/4″ Black Elastic

The front and back of the shirt are exactly the same. It’s a little loose, since it’s meant to be tucked into a skirt or high-waisted pants, so bust darts aren’t necessary.

For a sheer shirt like this, a serger is great. However, if you don’t have one, French seams are the best way to go. I simply sewed up the sides and at the shoulders, with wrong sides together. Trim your seam allowance to 1/8″ and flip wrong-side-out. Sew the sides and shoulders again as you normally would, and now your seam is encased inside itself, like you see below!

Rather than roll the arm holes and risk the sheer fabric bunching up, I decided to bind them in the same ribbon I put around the neck. If you’re following along, stitch your ribbon to each arm hole, right sides together.

Flip the ribbon over so it’s now inside the shirt. Stitch and iron.

The bottom of the shirt can get a basic rolled hem, like you see below. If you’ve never done one, or simply don’t like doing them, a lot of machines come with a rolled hemmer!

For the ruffle neckline, I folded the top toward the inside of the shirt 1/4″ and basted. I then folded it in again, this time and inch and a half. This measurement can be adjusted based on how tall you’d like your collar.

For the elastic, cut a piece that stretches around your head and comfortably fits around your neck. For this blouse, I ended up cutting a piece that was the length of exactly 1/2 the neckline.

This, of course, meant stretching the elastic as I sewed it along the inside, ensuring that it would still stretch after being stitched.

I tacked the ribbon in the center back, as well as on the two sides. Since it’s just a decorative detail, it can be as loose or tight as you prefer, which is nice if you don’t like constricting collars.

Ta-daa! Easy blouse in under an hour! Are you going to be trying it? Tell us what fabrics you’ll be using in the comments!