Stitchmaiden Kalina Blouse review.

First page of the pattern, showing different versions of the blouse.

What can I say? The Stitchmaiden Kalina Blouse is the style of blouse that got me into sewing in the first place. Ever since I saw the 1985 version of ‘Anne of Green Gables’ (the best in my opinion) I’ve been obsessed with beautiful puffed-sleeves, flower-adorned hats and long elegant skirts. I’ve wanted to make a ‘Marilla’ blouse for years, and I was attracted to this pattern because of how customisable it was - and also the lack of buttons. More about that later

I wanted to adjust the pattern to make the cuffs extra long so I could play my Scottish smallpipes comfortably without any baggy fabric getting sucked into the bellows. Trust me, I speak from experience! It was not pretty.

The amazing Colleen Dewhurst as Marilla Cuthbert. And look at that blouse!

I decided to make the blouse on the bottom of the first image above, but with a few changes. The collar actually extends to form a kind of ribbon which you tie to close up the back, but instead I wanted to use those button thingies that you get on the back of wedding dresses. I thought that would look elegant. I also wanted them for the sleeves. Like I mentioned before, I wanted to lengthen the cuffs and make them run from elbow to wrist. The pattern includes detailed instructions on how to modify the cuffs. Getting the length of the collar right was a bit of a challenge but I think it worked pretty well.

The wedding dress button thingies? That didn’t work so well. I should have used something else. The fabric holding the hoops kept fraying and no amount of fray check would fix it. But it does look good! What I hadn’t anticipated was how tedious and fiddly the buttons would be to open and close. It literally took about 30 minutes to get that thing buttoned up. No joke!

Those buttons look great, but never again! The cramp in my hands was unbelievable.

The sleeves weren’t any better. In the image below, if you look closely enough, you can see the sleeves are clipped together because the buttons just wouldn’t fasten. Those pesky elastic hoops that go over the buttons to secure it kept stretching and the buttons kept popping open. Next time I make this blouse I need some alternatives…maybe hooks and eyes? Poppers? Or wimping out and just making them elasticated? But then my sleeves will get sucked in to the bagpipe bellows. One final option might include velcro. Don’t judge me! In future I think I’ll make the neck the way it was meant to be in the pattern - with a ribbon type thing that you can just tie. But the buttonholes? I could also practice them and get over my fear of them.

Pink clips holding the sleeves together. And ugh, those pesky loopy-hoop thingies.

The pattern also has the blouse with a drawstring waist. I decided not to do that because I’d be wearing the skirt tucked in most of the time anyway. That was a mistake because when it came time to tuck the blouse in, it kept billowing out in all the wrong places. Another weird thing was the blouse was wayyyy too short for my body. I do have a very long torso, but even still, it barely came to the top of my skirt. I attached 10 inches to the bottom of the blouse so that it sat comfortably on my hips

Chillin’

Despite the issues I had making this blouse (which were my fault because of the modifications I did), I absolutely LOVE this blouse. I will be making it again and I cant wait to see how it goes.

Would I do anything differently?

-Yeah! Maybe not pattern-hack so much and stick to the original.

While this beautiful fabric was a dream to work with, it was a nightmare to wear. I guess I can only wear this blouse in the winter because it was like a sauna in there! Next time I make this I might also experiment with lace inserts which might let more air in.

I’ll also remember to make the blouse longer and experiment with how I want to close the sleeves.

Final thoughts.

The pattern was very detailed and I think it would be perfectly sufficient for a more experienced sewist. I’m a visual learner and I found it difficult without an accompanying video for the pattern. I’m hoping that will change with experience. In the end I watched a lot of other YouTube videos to learn how to do what I needed.

Overall, I’m still as obsessed with this blouse as I was before I started it.

But one very important question remains.

Can I play the bagpipes in it?

YES I CAN!! And no traumatic experiences with the bellows either. Whoop whoop! I am very happy. I got my Marilla blouse after all.