#smock pattern

The Smock Lives, or BurdaStyle Gathered Blouse 08/2019 #102

In a print, you can’t see exactly what this blouse is doing, but take a look at the sketch and you’ll see why it reminded me of the smocks that both women and me wore when doing dirty work from painting portraits in the late 19th Century to housework through the mid-20th Century. Loose and flare, they made it easy to move and get work done. If you were ever asked to take one of your dad’s old shirts to grade school and wear it for messy art and glue projects, you have the idea. Obviously, for look of a smock that you could also wear as a lightweight jacket, you want to size up a bit. Choose a larger size than you would for a blouse, and you don’t want a soft rayon or silk, but a heavier cotton or even a mid-weight wool. And then you could add jaunty patch pockets and be ready for a brisk fall day.  If you want to keep this a blouse, consider taking in the lower end of the side seams as you will have tons of fabric to tuck in at the waistline with so much flare. Or, keep the flare, consider lengthening it and wear it with leggings. In short, lots of options.

This is a good pattern for a beginner too. As the sleeves are raglan, you avoid the care you must taken when doing a set-in sleeve. This is a Burda pattern, so there are no seam allowances and you must add them to the pattern pieces after you.