Lockdown here in New Zealand has meant lots of our TFS team are working from their homes. Frankie from our HO team has been busy sewing at home with our beautiful new Exclusive Organic Hemp colourway Kale, working on the Anthea Blouse + Dress pattern by Anna Allen for this pattern review!
This Whimsical blouse has been a big hit with sewists and we can see why, it's a satisfying quick sew and we love the playfulness the puff sleeve style adds! There are so many inspiring versions over on Instagram here, we can't wait to give the Dress version a try next.
Pattern Review
Anthea Blouse + Dress PDF Pattern by Anna Allen
The most recent release from Anna Allen, the Anthea Blouse is a cute dartless blouse and dress pattern with puffed sleeves. The styles feature a button-up front, fold-over placket and bias-binding faced neckline and have a curved double folded hem like that of a shirt. View A is the blouse which has sleeves that finish around the elbow with a bias binding cuff, View B is the Dress version and has sleeves around 5cm shorter than the blouse and includes a tie pattern piece for cinching in at the waist.
Frankie chose the View A blouse and made hers up in a size 4, using Organic Hemp colour Kale. Seven of our (OEKO-TEX 100 Certified) 12.7mm Smoke Trocas Trocas Shell Buttons were used, a subtle and tonal match as its natural pearly colour easily blends in with many darker fabrics. She made no modifcations and we love how the blouse turned out - perfect for our current Southern Hemisphere spring weather!
This pattern is suggested for Intermediate sewists, but if you're a beginner and confident with sewing bias binding and gathering, sewing the Anthea will be no problem!
The Anthea pattern is available as PDF download only from the Anna Allen website here.
Fabric Recommendations
This beautiful new midweight 100% organic hemp fabric is in between our Vintage Finish Linen and our Heavyweight Linen at 170gsm in weight, and has a light bouncy handle. It’s also yarn-dyed, so features a lovely flecked finish and softly granular texture. Not unlike linen, the beauty of hemp is that it grows softer and softer with wear and care. The Anthea pattern recommends non-stretch woven fabrics, suiting our Organic Hemp perfectly!
Read more about how and where this fabric was made on our sustainability page here.
Our first four colours are Kale, Rye, Buckwheat and Pink Salt, pictured below!
Anthea is a sweet and simple style that would be easy to customize for those with some experience! Frankie thought this was a speedy and fun project, and a lovely addition to her wardrobe in Organic Hemp. Share your Hemp makes with us over on Instagram by using the hashtag #TFSOrganicHemp and tagging @WeAreTheFabricStore or #TheFabricStore