Blouse, shirt or top?

Back in January, I posted a list of some crafty goals for this year. One of those goals was to make a piece of clothing, a piece of clothing that I'd actually wear in public. I started off by making this skirt. It was fun, not tooooo terribly difficult, and I thought it turned out quite cute and I actually wore it in public.

That was back in January. It took me until June to give clothing another try. This time, a blouse... er shirt...er top. What IS the proper term? Whatever it is, I used Simplicity 3504.
I had some Amy Butler fabrics that I bought out of the bargain bin on my one and only trip to Hancock's of Paducah. Because they were purchased from the bargain bin, I was guessing at yardage when I decided there was enough to make this top(blouse, shirt, whatever). My all day garment sewing experience went a little something like this.

Previous Night. Go to my parent's house so my mother can help me because I know I will be on the phone w/her all day in addition to throwing things, huffing and puffing and most likely cursing my sewing machine if I don't.

9a.m. begin laying out the pattern pieces so they can be cut out.

9:10a.m. realize I don't have enough fabric even though I read the pattern package numerous times. sheesh.

9:11a.m. "MOM!!!!!"

9:30a.m. Mom figures out a way to shorten the shirt and re-do the sleeves so that I will have enough fabric. I wanted flippy butterfly sleeves and I got sausage-arm-puff-sleeves w/a straight hem at the bottom instead. But I can live with it.

9:30a.m.-12:00a.m. the following morning. Sew the shirt. OK, we did take TV, food and shopping breaks between sewing times. A fair amount of hours were spent cutting, sewing, seam ripping, bias tape applying/removing, Mom taking up the back seams after I had the whole thing together because despite my thinking I was a size 20 when it comes to sewing patterns, I'm not. Yeah, she tried to tell me, but I am hard headed, y'all.

The next day, once I was home, I decided to add elastic to the bottom of the sausage-arm-puff-sleeves which really enhanced the sausage-arm effect. I was totally going for sausage arms. Totally.

Although it took a while, I completed what I think is a nice first try at a blouse that was NOT one of those "easy/2hour/for dummies" patterns. Of course I learned some lessons along the way...

1. Mom knows best.
2. Listen to Clinton and Stacey about designs that go around your body. This I realized after seeing myself side view in the mirror in this shirt and then again on seeing the photo. Yikes! Still, I HAD to use this gorgeous fabric and therefore wasn't remotely thinking about how it would look on me at the time.
   
3. READ and RE-READ the fabric requirements and make sure you have enough fabric before you begin.
4. Take measurements and follow them instead of guessing at your size.
   
5. A shopping break makes everything better.

Here's my finished shirt/top/blouse. I've worn it in public. Twice!