Wholecloth: Fibre Mood Norma Blouse & Self-Drafted Shorts

When I look at this outfit of Norma Blouse from Fibre Mood and self-drafted linen shorts, I wonder if I'm having a midlife crisis. The thought was buried deep in my subconscious when I put these things together, but I'm pretty sure I had this same outfit in high school. I definitely had a different version of the same watch (intentionally like my dad's work watch) in high school, and a different version of the same hair style. The top was probably more of a t-shirt than a blouse, the sneakers were probably a brighter color, and I certainly didn't sew any of it, but the combination feels eerily familiar. I'm not gonna dig too deep into the meaning of this repeat and just believe that you wear what you feel good in.

I used to never wear anything I made until I had photographed and blogged about it. It sort of seemed too risky. I'm going to give myself credit for increased confidence in my ability to recreate anything that meets with a wayward splash of red wine, or that wire that sticks out on the screen door. I've been wearing these shorts since last summer, and this top has been the focus of at least 3 outfits since I finished it a few weeks ago. Black and white, it just goes with everything.

The Self-Drafted Linen Shorts

The shorts are self-drafted. I've blogged about them in the past. It's just my wide leg pants pattern shortened in length and widened at the thigh. They are simple but exactly what I like to wear. If you've ever stopped by this space before, you don't need me to extol the virtues of custom fit pants again. This pattern was the best thing I ever did for myself. It has ruined me for ready to wear.

The shorts are made with the leftovers from my Wiksten jacket. Its European Washed Linen from Fabric.com in a very basic black. It's medium weight and fully opaque, even with white undies. The interior finish is a testament to my love for this pattern. The pocket bags are bias bound with coordinating linen from another project as is the tag.

The Fibre Mood Norma Blouse

The Norma Blouse by Fibre Mood was a pitstop on the puffy sleeve journey I took a few months ago. They billow in all the right ways. I did make a muslin, and as a result I raised the point of the neckline 1/2" and increased the width ever so slightly from underarm to hem.

Like my last project, this Indian block print came from Rohiyan on Etsy. It's a loose weave cotton, and less than 2 ounces per square yard, making it billow nicely about the sleeve. The logical drawback is that it's a bit sheer. I also made a hand stitched bandana with some of the left over.