Fluent in French- Blousette Rose in Atelier Brunette

It seemed appropriate to use a French pattern for my first project with the much admired Atelier Brunette viscose.  My spouse is fairly fluent in French. He studied in France twice and has attended a biweekly French conversation breakfast group for the past 30 plus years. I took some French language and culture classes in college, and we have hosted my spouses’ French friends and their children at our house numerous times over the decades.  Given all this, I may have been a bit over confident in my cross cultural abilities, when I went ahead and purchased Campanule- La Chemise Bohème- as a pattern down load- fully aware the pattern maker Blousette Rose didn’t offer the instructions for this pattern in English.

The first little bump was trying to figure out whether the pattern pieces included seam allowances. My language skills were useless- but a quick Google search confirmed they didn’t- Merd!

The instructions are comprehensive and helpful- especially if you speak French. I particularly like the nicely drawn diagrams that are included.

The instructions also include links to video tutorials- which I checked out. These videos are well done and helpful even if your French language skills are petite- like mine. So, I give this company high marks and no complaints about the pattern instructions- but I give myself a “fail” in my French reading comprehension. Fortunately, this blouse isn’t tricky and I have made a fair number of blouses- so I didn’t really have any problems.

 This is my second go around with a French pattern maker- and I found this brand to be quite generous compared to my previous experience.  The sleeves and shirt length were too long for me by two inches- I am 5 foot 4 inches for reference.  The cut is also very generous.  My neckband didn’t lay as flat as I desire- which may be a drafting issue or may be user error- or maybe something was lost in translation.

 A word about the fabric.  I found the Atelier Brunette fabric worth the hype.  J’adore!  I tossed it in the wash on gentle to pre-shrink- and it came out perfect.  After wearing the blouse- wrinkles hang out like magic.  I also found the viscose stable and easy to handle when sewing. 

 It was a bit of a challenge to find buttons to match the lovely midnight background on this fabric.  Navy is too bright and black is  – well -- too black.  I found these adorable buttons online that are actually branded Atelier Brunette- so I was able to order with no worries.  I think they are perfect for this shirt.

Update- I noted recently that Blousette Rose now offers a small selection of their patterns with instructions for English speakers- but not the Campanule.