The Poesy peasant blouse & dress from Sinclair Patterns has raglan sleeves, and a full gathered neckline created with a neat casing with 1/4″ elastic inside. Those are all the common features of the 5 views available in this sewing pattern.
The Poesy peasant blouse & dress pattern has body length options: top, tunic and dress. As for the sleeves: cap, short and long options and the hems can be elasticized with a casing or hemmed normally. The tunic and dress have a casing at the waist that can be sewn on the inside or exposed on the outside, depending on the look you prefer.
There are inseam pockets available for the tunic and the dress options. I am not a lover of pockets and when I see them listed as an option; I don’t sew them; unless they are patch pockets, slash and or pockets. I keep this consistent.
Light-weight woven and knit fabrics are both appropriate for this style and the construction method does not need change for knit fabrics.
For a softer look with woven fabrics, I would choose rayon and rayon blends, crepe, crinkle rayon & silk.
For a more voluminous structured look, light cotton lawn, voile, & double gauze will work. I mention voluminous because these fabrics named last do not drape well and even though they are light; they lie stiffer.
My choices: I chose print crinkle chiffon for my dress and black bubble crepe for my blouse. Both are light weight, though the chiffon is lighter weight than the crepe.
The Poesy peasant blouse & dress is available from sizes 0-30 US (XS-4XL) with a bust up to 59.8″ and hips to 63″. Before choosing a size, there are height options to consider first. I fall in the tall draft and its perfect! I don’t need to lengthen anything.
The sewing bust cup size increases proportionally with the sizes available. Starting at size 0 with a B/C bust cup size and finishing at size 30 with an E bust cup size.
If you are confused about the difference between sewing and bra bust cup sizes, I made a video discussing this topic HERE. For my size 14, there is a drafted sewing bust cup C/D and that is perfect for me.
The seam allowance for the main seams is 5/8″, except for the neckline casings and cap sleeve casings. I LOVE this feature in patterns. Changing seam allowances for ease in sewing construction is very appreciated.
- There are instructions for french seams and regular seams.
- The gathers in the neckline and sleeves hems are created by sewing separate shaped casings. This will create a smooth curved neckline without puckers. This technique is superior to folding under the raw edge and creating a casing from the neckline. In fact, I will refuse to sew a curved casing anywhere and a separate piece is so much better. This is a huge positive in this pattern for me.
- After the casing is sewn, under-stitched and flipped to the inside, the raw edge is folded under by 3/8″. I sewed a guide stitch with a long stitch length to help me press this in neatly. The long length stitch is easy to remove after pressing.
- About the elasticized sleeve hems: I prefer sewing a cuff to create the same gathered look. I don’t like the feeling of elastic on my wrists.
I made two versions, a dress in print crinkle chiffon and a top with black bubble crepe.
Chiffon Dress with cap sleeves
I made a few changes:
- I opted out of the flounce on the hem of the dress version. To compensate for the loss of total length, I lengthened the primary pieces by 4″.
- I chose the cap sleeves, and the casings meant for the 1/4″ elastic at the hem, became a hem facing instead. I didn’t add the elastic. This is perfect! The very curved shape on a cap sleeve is better hemmed this way.
- I created a self fabric sash and two belt loops sewn to the side seams, to replace the waist casing. Crinkle chiffon and my patience had already gotten exhausted 🙂
Black bubble crepe blouse with long sleeves
I had only 1.2mt of suitable black fabric and it obsessed me to have a long sleeve Poesy peasant blouse. I don’t actually own a long sleeve black woven blouse and I am in middle of winter here in Brazil. It’s a mild winter, but sleeves are still appreciated.
When placing the pattern pieces on my small piece of fabric, I prioritized the full length sleeves. Then I placed the front on the fold and the back along the selvedges, to have an extra center back seam. Of course the back didn’t fit! See below, the modifications I made to the back pattern piece.
I freehand drew a curve to form a yoke, I would cut on the fold. This makes the “back”, shorter and it fits into my piece of fabric, with an extra back seam of course. The yoke was cut from a random little piece left over. I also had to shorten the main pieces by 2″.
I opted to create little cuffs for the hem of the sleeves. It’s the exact same little cuff I added to the Daisy blouse, also from Sinclair patterns. You can see how to sew it in THIS VIDEO. I prefer a looser cuff that does not touch my wrists so closely, like a casing with elastic does.
The finished cuff is 1″ wide and is delicate and comfortable. The above photo is the Daisy blouse, also with chiffon.
I have a full video on my YouTube channel about these projects, including how to sew the neckline casings, raglan sleeves and a talk about dart equivalents. See both on and my thoughts too.
I love that this style is not difficult to sew, is feminine, has great construction techniques, a good size range and multiple options to choose from. A great wearable comfy pattern too.
DISCLAIMER: I was provided the pattern without cost as an affiliate to the pattern brand. I sew and review patterns on my own time and terms and brands don’t influence the point of views I express freely on my sewing platforms. My opinions are always very honest. I purchase my fabrics.
I have affiliate links in this post to the pattern company and the pattern. If you click on these links, at no cost to you, I receive a small commission that helps finance my sewing, blog and Youtube channel.
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Categories: Pattern hacks, Pattern Reviews
