Park Lane Blouse

A review of Nina Lee Park Lane Dress and Blouse

Reviewed by Shreya | junolovesthread on 19th January, 2020

Another excellent pattern from Nina Lee! This was a pretty straightforward sew – you could probably finish in a day, although it took me a bit longer due to mostly sewing during the evenings after work and cutting on a single layer to pattern match the back seam.

I cut a straight size 8, and brought the sides in a little bit for a slightly more fitted look. I also wanted the blouse to sit a bit closer to my natural waist so I took about 4 inches off the length and used a 1″ hem allowance.

The instructions are clear and well illustrated, as always with Nina’s patterns. The trickiest part was the placket and cuff as I’d never done this before – but it just took a bit of patience and lots of pins! There are a few photographed tutorials online that are worth looking at which also help explain this well. Next time I might try using self-bias strips for this step and see if that makes a difference. I don’t have a loop turner, but had success with the rouleau loop using a wool needle to turn this through.

All in all, love this pattern – there are thoughtful touches that give it a really lovely finish (i.e. the back seam construction) and the gathered sleeves are also bang on trend. Probably my new favourite blouse and will be on heavy rotation!