DIY a Gorgeous Puffy Sleeve Blouse

Makyla Creates
by Makyla Creates
6 Materials
$10
1 Hour
Medium


I love DIYing pieces that I know I will wear! This blouse has definitely become an absolute favorite! I love how easy and simple it is to sew and the fact that it can be styled in so many different ways! Puffy sleeves are so in right now, making this top a fashion must! If you want to learn all the tips and tricks to making this stunner of a top, this tutorial is most definitely for you! Follow my step-by-step guide and begin DIYing this amazing blouse.

Tools and materials:

  • Pattern hacks
  • Fabric
  • Scissors
  • Pins
  • Sewing machine
  • Shirring elastic
How to sew a simple blouse
Cut out your fabric pieces


To get started on making this amazing blouse, I hacked my blouse pattern to get it perfect for this piece. If you want to see the notes on my little hacks go to 0:57 in the video. I then made sure to cut out all the pieces I needed to make the blouse. I chose to use this gorgeous golden fabric but feel free to choose a color that suits your aesthetic! 

Sew the blouse
Sew the blouse together


Once all my pieces were cut out, it was time to start sewing. Check out my instructions in this sew-along tutorial to help you sew this blouse here.

Add neck binding
Add binding around the neck


Now it’s time to add a little one of my tweaks to create this new blouse. I stay stitched around the curved neckline and then pinned on the binding. Once the pins were all in place, I sewed around the neckline leaving a small seam allowance. 

Sew the ends together


I then needed to sew the two ends of the binding together. I made sure they were perfectly aligned and sewed. 

Edgestitch the neckline


Next, I folded the binding to match up with the seam allowance I had left and then folded it again. I edge-stitched around the whole neckline to make sure the blouse would have a perfect finish! 

Sewing a blouse for beginners
Finish the seams


Once I had the neckline looking perfect, I continued to sew my blouse according to my instructions. For this new blouse, I chose to finish the seams with a french seam just because the fabric I chose is a bit more delicate.

Sew the side seams
Sew the sleeves


It was then time to move on to my favorite feature of this blouse, the puffy sleeve. I started by sewing up the side seams on both of my sleeves. 

Hem the sleeves


Once the side seams were sewed I went ahead and hemmed my sleeves. I chose to fold the hem 2 cm from the bottom and make it a double-turned hem but you can just overlock it and turn it over once if you prefer. 

Add shirring elastic to a bobbin
Sew the shirring


Next, I changed the stitch length on my sewing machine to its longest length and also made sure to hand-wind some shirring elastic onto an empty bobbin which I placed in the sewing machine. 

Sew the shirring


It was finally time for the fun part! I started sewing my first row of shirring 5 cm from my sleeve hem. Once I had the shirring all the way around the sleeve I knotted the elastic on the inside to make sure everything would be held firmly in place. I also cut off the threads to make sure the sleeve would be perfect before starting the next row of shirring. 

Sew base stitching
Gather the sleeves


I made three rows of shirring and was ready to gather the top of my sleeves. To do this, I sewed two rows of base stitching and I then gathered that up to get the desired effect. 

Attach the sleeves


I popped my sleeve into my armhole and started pinning the edges in place. I made sure to match up the seams and then I pulled the gathers to make them nice and even all the way around. Once all the pins were in place, I sewed on the sleeves. I couldn’t wait to see the end result!

Hem the bottom of the blouse
Hem the blouse


For the final step, I hemmed the bottom of the blouse, finishing it off to make sure it looked neat and clean. 

How to sew a blouse tutorial


I am so obsessed with this puffy sleeve blouse! How would you style this piece? Let me know in the comments below!  

Suggested materials:
  • Pattern
  • Fabric
  • Scissors
See all materials

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