PATTERN TUTORIAL: dropped shoulder balloon sleeve blouse

Hello Darlings!

It's been a while since my last post, but quite frankly... I just wasn't in a mood to sew lately. Between everything that's going on in the world and new responsibilities at work, I found myself with zero inspiration for sewing and so I decided to give myself a little break from it. This gave me a good opportunity to just relax and take things easier, all while slowly getting my sew-jo back. And now it's back with full force!

To kick-off sewing after a break, I usually choose something light and easy. This time, after a brief scroll on Pinterest, I decided to go with a dropped shoulder balloon sleeve blouse.

To say this blouse was easy would be an understatement - it was one of my fastest makes ever! I literally put this blouse together in just a few hours (that is very fast for me), but it instantly turned into my work wardrobe essential.

As this is a self-drafted pattern, I want to share with you a short tutorial on how you can recreate this pattern as well. So here we go:

Dropped shoulder balloon sleeve blouse pattern tutorial

This pattern is really easy and consists of only 3 details: front, back and sleeve. To recreate to pattern, you will need a basic top pattern block (I have mine cut from thick paper, so that I can quickly grab it anytime I am drafting a new pattern).

We will start with the front part (grey colored lines are basic pattern block lines; red line - pattern changes). From the neck side, widen the neckline by 3 cm; raise the middle of the neckline by 2 cm and connect with rounded line, creating a boat neckline effect. From the top shoulder point, draw a 26 cm line (this will be your dropped shoulder line). Make sure the end of the line ends at the same height as in basic pattern block.

Now from the dropped shoulder line, draw a line down, till same height as armpit line in your basic pattern block. This will be your armhole line.

Connect bottom of the armpit with bodice with a slightly curved line (please see above picture, figure in the middle).

Depending on how long you want your blouse, add additional centimetres from the waist down (I add 18 cm to the side line). To create a curved line, add 5 cm to the middle front and connect both side lines with curved line (please see above picture, figure the right).

Front part is finished (as this is 1/2 of the front, make sure to cut it on fold).

Moving to the back part, it is almost identical to the front (see picture above: left is back side, right - front side details). The only difference is in the neckline: while you need to widen the neckline by 3 cm (same as in front detail), you do not have to deepen it. All other measures and steps are same as in front detail.

For the sleeve detail, take both front and back details and connect them at the shoulder line (see picture above, figure on the left). Draw a line at the armhole (see picture above, figure in the middle) - this line will be the top of your sleeve.

From the sides of newly drawn line, draw 2 lines, both 36 cm length (or longer, if you prefer longer sleeves).

Now cut in the sleeve detail in 5 parts (just make sure you are not cutting all the way thought - leave at least a few millimetres at the top, so that the sleeve stays connected). Spread the sleeve to create desired puffiness effect (please see picture above, top figure) and draw around the figure. Connect the bottom of the sleeve with a rounded line.

To create the "balloon" effect on the sleeve, add elastic at the bottom of the sleeve.

And that's it, your pattern is finished and you can start sewing your blouse!

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Best wishes,

Julie