Sew An Easy Butterfly Sleeves Blouse

Can’t believe that I sewed this Butterfly Sleeve Blouse in less than 2 hours? from paper sketching to the finished blouse. It looks challenging but the truth is it is easy with only a few steps to follow. If you run through my following sewing pattern and tutorial, you will believe me that it is easy 😉

I had a dream, a dream to make a magazine cover to feature my handmade. Thanks to the studio shooting team to make my dream comes true. I love the styling and photography done by I.Z from Hair Impression Salon & Academy, who is a professional hairdresser with a passion for photography. Drop by their Facebook page and see all those amazing artistic photos I.Z took after the make-over and don’t forget to “like” the page just to say “hello”.

Thanks to Hongyu for the wonderful make-up to bring out the essence of the Butterfly Sleeve Blouse, exactly the way I wanted it to be… WILD & FREEDOM!!!!

Last but not least, thanks to the cover girl, Joanne.C, my niece who traveled 400km all the way from her home just to help me to model the blouse. She is quite a potential model and resembles the look of Amber Chia, the top model of Malaysia.

Please don’t feel surprised to not see the sewing process in this tutorial my usual way. I lost all the images due to an awful mistake with the new camera I just bought. The price for these silly mistakes was… I have to draw out the sewing steps by using Illustrator which took me a more painful time to prepare (luckily I still have the photo of the fabric before it was cut). However, I feel that the presentation and clarity are much better than those photos I have lost…. well, no pain no gain! Hope you like it.

Butterfly Sleeve Blouse

Size:
Loose fit: USA size 4 – 12 or S – L
For smaller or large size, just alter the width and length to suit.

Pattern:
Download here.
If you can’t download the pdf pattern, probably you don’t have acrobat reader, download the latest version for free, here.

Material:
1. Knit fabric, 2 yards
2. Sewing thread
3. Elastic thread for shirring

Tools:
1. Sewing machine
2. Serger/overlock machine or rolled hem foot for sewing machine
3. Paper, pencil & ruler
4. Fabric Marker
5. Scissors
6. Sewing kits

Suggestions:
Different fabric prints and materials will give a different feel and theme for this blouse. You can try the following for a different look:
1. Chiffon
2. Soft silk
3. Silk organza
4. Sateen
5. Lace
Note: Use light-weight instead of heavy and stiff fabric.

Download the pattern drawing instruction from the link above.
The first page is the outline and measurement of the blouse. Either draw the pattern on a big paper (40″ x 60″) follow the downloaded pattern or draw directly onto the fabric to save time and paper. I drew it directly on the fabric.

The second page is the neck hole pattern. Again, either draw it on a ledger size (11″ x 17″) paper or directly on the fabric by following the downloaded drawing pattern/instruction.

Follow the measurement and draw a 40″ (W) x 60″ (L) rectangle directly on the fabric and cut it out. Curved the 4 corners with something round that has about 2″ radius (I used duck tape paper core’s inner circle).
Mark all the necessary measurement on the fabric, like shoulder, waist shirring, side seams and arm-hole positions.

Neaten the raw edges either with narrow over-lock stitch by serger, or, rolled hem with zig-zag stitch by sewing machine.
Stretch the fabric while sewing will create a wavy edge.

>Fold the fabric into half on the shoulder line. Sew side seam follow the red continuous line (as per pattern).

Sew 5 rolls of elastic shirring on the waist of front and back. 3 rolls for the shoulder.
If you are new to elastic thread shirring, this post might help you out.
That’s all you need to sew for this Butterfly Sleeve Blouse.
Isn’t it only needed a few steps to complete?

Close-up on the shirred shoulder.

A closer look on the shirred waist. You can shirr more or lesser rolls to make the Butterfly Sleeve Blouse look a little different.