There are clothing models / patterns that really catch your eye... that's what happened to me with the Jolène model from Ready to sew. Every time I saw a post about it, even before looking at what the model was, I was charmed by it... 

I held back for a year before buying it; considering my 2020 resolutions and 2021 but I still gave in at the end of 2021 when an Instagrammer I follow with pleasure, mggplusplus, posted about the blouse. If you want to follow her, go for it! She is the author of the book "Sewing with the serger" which I recommend. I even gave this book to my mom for Christmas to encourage her to use her serger more; anyway... I digress, let's get back to this famous Jolène blouse!

And so, Emilie (Mggplusplus) made it in a stunning verdigris green to die for with the balloon sleeve extension... after that, I fell for it 😅. BUT, so, to still keep my resolutions a bit, I had to sew it right away (that was the deal of my resolutions)... so I did, and I'll tell you the story. 

The pattern

Jolène is a blouse or dress whose special feature is having gathers on the front and back that encompass the bust and shaping clips. It's very clever from a pattern-making perspective and very aesthetic. It's really the detail that gives it a slightly retro look and made me fall for this model. Otherwise, it features a collar (available in two versions in the basic version), a peplum/skirt gathered at the waist that can be lengthened for the midi or long dress version. 

You will find the pattern for the Jolène dress/blouse on the Ready to sew website from size 32 to 46 (height 1.65m - cup B) only in PDF format at the price of €10.29.

So I had to bite the bullet a bit to assemble the +/- 30 pages of the pattern sheet. I would have preferred the printed format but well, it doesn’t exist 😅. That said, the sheets are easy to assemble, without misalignments; so it was long but easy to do.

There is also an extension to add balloon sleeves, different collars, or a skirt ruffle for €6.05.

Note that seam allowances are included and measure 1cm. 

Supplies

To make Jolène, you will need:

• Fabrics like poplin, broderie anglaise, chambray, light denim, flannel, cotton lawn... plan for the midi dress: 270 x 140 cm, for the knee-length dress 210 x 140 cm, and for the long-sleeved shirt: 170 x 140 cm
•  Lightweight interfacing 40 cm x 90 cm 
•  Buttons (add 2 buttons for the pointed collar with button option): Midi dress: 26 Knee-length dress: 20 Shirt: 14
• Matching threads

For my version, I chose a cotton lawn from the Japanese brand Echino (Kokka) that I brought back from a trip to Japan and that was waiting for the right project. Note that I had two coupons of 80cmX110cm and that size 36 with dolman sleeves fits easily within this amount of fabric. 

I chose 11mm sequin buttons which you can find in the shop, as well as the lightweight interfacing and matching red Güterman thread. 

The toile and the modifications

The pattern designer recommends making a bust toile to be sure the size fits you well. So I followed her advice and made a bust toile (without collar) in size 36 and I’m glad I did because I had to make two important modifications:

• raise the armhole by 2cm 
• increase the bust ease by 2cm

If I hadn’t made my toile, I wouldn’t have been able to wear my blouse which would have been too tight and I wouldn’t have been able to raise my arms... so it can’t be said enough: making a toile really helps!

The technical points

Jolène is rated intermediate level by the brand, however, I find there are many technical points so I’d tend to say advanced intermediate or daring 😊 because you’ll need to do:

• good interfacing on the collar, collar stand, and button placket
• gathers on the front bust, back, and on the peplum/skirt
• a collar with collar stand (I recommend basting it for assembly)
• a button placket
• buttonholes
• hemming, including the curved hem at the bottom of the shirt

It’s a really nice project to learn all these techniques and I have to say I really enjoyed sewing it. 

The sewing experience

It’s a really great sewing experience for this first pattern from the brand Ready to sew that I tested. I’m glad I made a toile before cutting into my precious coupon. I’m also very happy that the adjustments I made to the pattern were perfect for the fit of my blouse (I can breathe and raise my arms! Hooray!). I think I’ll let myself be tempted by the balloon sleeve extension to make a dress for this spring. 

If you want to sew a cool shirt or dress and you’re not too afraid to try these technical stitches, honestly, go for it! 

So this is where this pattern review ends... tempted by this lovely design? Let me know in the comments, I’d be happy to read your thoughts 😊

Get your needles ready!