Triangle Tokens Belcarra Blouse

This is my fourth Belcarra Blouse and it is by far my favorite. What’s different about this one? Two things: the type of fabric and a new-to-me technique.

The main fabric is Triangle Tokens in Voile by April Rhodes for Art Gallery. I bought 5 yards from Pink Castle Fabrics sight unseen and was a little disappointed to discover how sheer it was. (Are all voiles sheer?) I loved the fabric too much to give up on it, so I decided to try my hand at underlining. The underlining fabric is a white lawn or voile whose provenance I neglected to write down. Both fabrics were lovely to work with and even lovelier to wear. They make the garment feel more like a “real” shirt instead of an amateur one made out of stiff-by-comparison quilting cotton.

For starters, I cut out all the pattern pieces from the main fabrics, and then cut out another front, back and sleeves from the underlining fabric. I didn’t bother underlining the cuffs, since I didn’t think they needed the extra bulk. In fact, the lighter weight voile made for the easiest cuffs of all the Belcarra Blouses I’ve made so far.

Since I was so comfortable with the pattern, I just pinned the underlining pieces to the main fabric pieces and sewed the shirt together as I usually do. The French seams turned out nice and clean, just how I like them.

I’m not kidding when I said this is my favorite Belcarra Blouse. It’s light and soft, fresh and summery, perfect for hot, humid days.