Roho Blouse by Coffee + Thread

Roho Blouse Pattern Description

The Roho blouse is a loose-fitting raglan top made for lightweight to mid-weight woven fabrics with drape. The blouse can be styled many different ways, depending on your mood for the day. It’s a perfect casual top to lounge around on Sunday mornings. Pair it with a skirt or trousers and it’s suitable or the office. It comes together quickly and is appropriate for adventurous beginners. There are no closures

I was one of the Pattern Testers

The Roho Blouse sewing pattern is a new release by Coffee + Thread. It is designed for light-weight, soft, draping woven fabric, has raglan sleeves with a lovely pleat on the shoulders, full sleeves with a choice of length, and a high/low hem that can be left to flow loosely, or gathered in with wide elastic. As one of the pattern testers, I sewed 3 different versions of the blouse, to check for fit, and also pattern accuracy. As a result, I’ll share some sewing tips and modification ideas, sew read on.

Sample 1

My first sample was sewn in a lovely soft rayon challis, from “the stash”. It features long sleeves and a softly gathered front hem. I added 2 inches to the body length, due to my 5 ft 10 inch height, is a frequent alteration for me.

The neckline on this sample was finished with “store-bought” cotton/poly pre-made bias binding. It was a bit stiff., but it did make it quick and easy to make. Cutting a bias strip of scrap would have been smarter 🙂 and as a result, the neckline would have been a bit softer to wear.

Tip………Stay-stitch the neckline of all the pieces as soon as you’ve cut them out! Over-handling the soft fabric at the neck results in distortion and an ill-fitting neckline.

Tip……..before you cut the elastic, for the front hem and for the sleeves, check the fit. Almost everyone’s body and every elastic is different.

Sample 2

For sample 2 I used a piece of light-weight polyester from “the stash” It is slippery and has a mind of its own, and my cat loved how it “puddled” on the floor when pulled off the cutting table. Hmmmff! I used a rotary cutter and weights for cutting rather than using scissors. I also “cheated” and instead of putting the back on a fold, I added seam allowance and serged the seam.

The neckline of this Roho Blouse is finished with a shaped facing and due to the lightweight fabric “tricot-knit” fusible interfacing is appropriate. Again, to prevent a distorted neckline, stay-stitch the neckline of all the pieces as soon as they’re cut out.

Tip………fuse the interfacing to the fabric BEFORE cutting, and be sure the fold of the pattern is accurately on the fold of the fabric.

Or, better yet, cut your pattern piece on a folded piece of paper, then open the paper out to subsequently cut the facing on a single layer of fabric. It’s FOOL-PROOF!

Final tip from sample 2 ……..when understitching the facing to the seam allowance at the neck, DON’T STRETCH IT AT ALL!

Sample 3

This blouse is sewn with another piece of lightweight “tie-dye looking” polyester from “the stash”. It’s very thin and flowy (is that even a word?) so I chose to use the rotary cutter for accuracy. Consequently, I chose the short gathered sleeve version for this sample and finished the hem with a serger rolled edge. Sample 3 also means that my summer wardrobe is coming along nicely.

In conclusion, I LOVE and highly recommend this blouse pattern, a peasant top with style! The pattern is professionally drafted and also includes great instructions. You can buy the downloadable PDF from Coffee + Thread’s website with the option to print selected sizes as well as copy-shop versions.

This Roho blouse testing was a great experience for me! Working with Olga and the team was fun, and as a result, I have 3 new blouses. Buy it at a reduced introductory price by clicking here. The lower price is in effect until February 17, 2019.

My favourite colour is pretty obvious because of this post, can you guess what it is?

UPDATE: Olga wrote a post and included loads of pics, see it by clicking here.