Say Hello to the São Miguel Blouse!
I designed this little blouse in Spring of 2023, in collaboration with Hoooked Yarns. They reached out to me asking if I could create a garment using their Atlantica yarn- a blend of cotton and Seacell (a material similar to lyocell, made from seaweed- how cool!) and I knew I had to say yes! Immediately, my mind was drawn to the idea of a lacy, collared blouse that would be perfect for hot, humid, beachy days by the sea.
I set to work creating a top that would be fun to make, but not so complicated that novice crocheters would feel intimidated by garment making. São Miguel is created all in one piece, from the bottom up, using a fun stitch pattern that has a simple two-step repeat. You start by working in turned rounds until you get your desired length, then you split your work in two to create the front and back panels and make room for the armholes, which get added afterward! There’s no real shaping involved, just leaving some stitches unworked to create the front/back splits, as well as the collar. The whole thing is pretty much made up of tubes and rectangles! Its relaxed silhouette means it’s extra forgiving, and comfy to wear too!
Now you might be thinking, “why São Miguel?”- Or maybe you’re not haha, but I’ll tell the story anyway! When coming up with this design, my husband and I were smack in the middle of planning our honeymoon to Europe, and a leg of our trip had us staying in Ponta Delgada for two days, on the beautiful island of São Miguel, Azores. This was a total bucket list destination for both of us for many years, and I couldn’t shake the idea of wearing a lacy handmade blouse like this during our stay there. It was the perfect wardrobe piece! I could picture it paired so perfectly with my favourite linen trousers and flowy maxi skirts, and made sure to ask Hoooked for the Coconut Brown shade of their yarn because I just knew it was gonna match my honeymoon wardrobe, hehe. So, this design was lovingly named after the island we were so excited to visit! Funny enough, our flight to Ponta Delgada got canceled literally as we were locking our front door to head to the airport. There were no other available flights, and the one our airline auto-booked us onto had us leaving two days later- meaning we’d have to leave to catch our next flight as soon as we landed in PDL. Just our luck! (cries)
Sadly, we had to scratch Azores from our itinerary, and I never got to wear this blouse on the island as I intended. But hopefully one day I can make that dream come true!
I’d also like to say a super special thank you to Nadine of Poppysmicks for testing this pattern! She is so talented, as fellow pattern maker, and a wonderful kind friend. Be sure to give her some love- check out her Instagram, website, and YouTube! Nadine did an awesome job testing out this blouse, doesn’t she look lovely?! Thanks again Nadine!!!
You can find the size inclusive, measure yourself style pattern on my Etsy shop now!
Happy crocheting 🧡
