I made a beetle blouse

I’ve been sewing again. Tra la la! Little dance of joy. Sewing definitely makes me happy. Escaping for even a short time to play with my creative ideas, is good time. On my own. It means later I can take a back seat while encouraging others to be creative. Resisting the temptation to wade in, with my sleeves stylishly rolled up, and take over their projects. It’s OK. I’ve already had my own creative time. Instead I can nudge them to think deeper and out of the box, without spelling out how I would do it.

May is the best time for me to feel a fresh burst of creativity. I find I’m inspired by the increasing number of different flowers appearing in the local hedgerows and our garden. Oh, the colours. Not just the colour, but also the scent promises wonderful times to be had outside, in the coming months. Even the different shades of foliage add to it all. So beautiful. It’s probably no coincidence that my handmade wardrobe offers up more spring outfits than any other season. The burst of colour sends me dashing to rifle through my fabric stash for just the shade to complement it all. Again.

This year is no different. I opted for a blouse made out of green fabric with beetles on it.

Regular readers of my blog probably won’t be surprised by my choice of a beetle fabric. Way back when, before career apps were even a twinkle in their programmer’s eye, I was researching my next steps in the dismal, back room at school, that passed for our career office, I wish someone had pulled out the paper brochure for entomologist. I suspect it wouldn’t have had a well worn spine, with bent edges, as some of the other brochures (I’m looking at you, accountancy and law), but it would have opened my eyes to another possibility. I might have been put off by the forecast salary, but at least I’d have known it existed.

As it happens, I had to wait until my first born came home from primary school with a mini-beast project, before I even came across the word “entomology” and the concept that you could study and earn money by being one.

All’s well that ends well, as they say, as I can still indulge my amateur interest in all things bug like.

I like bugs. Especially beetles as there is such a variety. Vast majority have not been categorized and have no name. Just imagine. We know so little.

Back to spring time sewing. I pulled out New Look 6598 from my pattern collection. It’s one I’ve used before (here and here) and find this style of blouse works well for me. This time I went for view D and left out the sleeve cuff, to cut down on the unnecessary bulk.

One of the reasons I love making my own clothes is that I can add creative details to it. Making it mine. This time, the fabric on its own seemed too plain, which I know sounds odd, seeing as it’s covered in beetles, but believe me, it did. It was calling out for something extra. Digging through my trimmings collection, I unearthed a length of white daisy flowers. Still in theme with the beetles and added a much needed contrast.

At first I was just going to add it to the sleeves, to draw the eye. Then I looked at adding it to the neck edge only. In the end, I threw caution to the wind and went for both. As they say, go big or go home, and it is my top.

The buttons were a lucky find. One night, I searched in my button tin and couldn’t find four matching green buttons. Unwilling to wait till the morning for the fabric shop to throw open its doors, I started looking for any four matching buttons, the right size. I’m not sure I’d have considered the black ones otherwise, but the more I looked at them, the more sense they made.

Do you see the many surfaces? They remind me of an insect’s eye. Perfect. I have no idea where they came from but they must have been waiting for this project.

Blouse done. I can see this one being worn on a regular basis. The green is vibrant and the little beetles cute. I suspect some people might be eeked out by the idea of beetles, but I am one happy person.

Thank you to Youngest, who took the photos and to Hero who opted to stay out of the photos, unlike previous hounds. A cool spot directing, from behind the camera, is more his style, it seems.