Hello there! I can’t believe that we’re heading towards the end of August and it’s been nearly 3 months since my last post.
Between the dance lessons (all in Liverpool, which is a 2 hour round trip), the ongoing pandemic, fires, earthquakes and Afghanistan falling to the Taliban again, it’s felt so frivolous to be posting in this space. I’ve been almost as sporadic over on Insta too.
Add into the mix the long school summer vacation and almost interminable rain. It’s meant that not a lot has been happening other than keeping small folk occupied and from fisticuffs!
All this means that creative ennui is a real thing at the moment, but I have finished this blouse and a pair of socks. I’ll share the socks next time. Hopefully not in another 3 months, because they’re lovely!
Anyhoo….this shirt!
I first toiled this back in November 2020 and then…..nothing happened. I lost over a stone in weight, then gained a tiny bit back. (CrossFit is moving that now!)The toile sat on my dressform and mouldered whilst I made other things. Then, when I tried the original toile, it was waaaaaay too big. So I started again with a smaller size at the beginning of June this year.
The pattern in Vogue 8447. I think it’s a 1992 design, so OOP now but does come up on Etsy.
The fabric is a Japanese Cotton Lawn that I bought from Miss Matatabi, but which has been lurking in the stash for goodness knows how long!
If I’m honest it’s a bit lightweight for this pattern. But I’m calling it perfect for warm days when you don’t want to wear something sleeveless. It’s light and floaty and opaque enough for modesty.
It’s delicious to wear and I have another piece ready to go for my next project in an abstract print.
I made a load of changes:
- Forward shoulder adjustment
- Reduced the shoulder width to make it less of a drop
- Dropped the neckline
- Added a bit to the body length
- Full bust adjustment
I like the fit of this….it’s almost perfect.
For the next iteration I would pinch a bit out of the back neck, which will make it sit even flatter. It also needs a bit more out of the front neckline as I’m quite hollow there.
I should point out that my full bust is currently 50″ and I cut the size 12 did an FBA. There is loads of room in this shirt so really be aware if you decide to make it. Although there is the lovely Oversized Shirt pattern from The Assembly Line. I had this Vogue pattern in the stash as a friend had sent it over when she was downsizing her stash. I would have bought the Assembly Line pattern otherwise as it has pockets.
Maybe I should add pockets to this one next time!
But all in all this is a lovely shirt and very wearable. I didn’t put the collar on this time because I wanted to wear it without to see whether I preferred my shirts with or without a collar. I think on this print the stand works well, but if I made this as, say, a crisp white shirt, I’d definitely put the collar on.
One other alteration I did was to cut and spread from the hem to the bust. The original shirt quite a triangular shape….wide at the shoulders narrowing into the hem. I’m already that shape and don’t want to emphasise it, so adjusted the pattern. I might widen that adjustment just a bit more for the next shirt.
But I have to be honest that this is getting a load of wear. It fits better than the inspiration shirt, which was an old RTW from Marks and Spencer that I had worn to rags.
This is how I wear this shirt, and, frankly, how I like to dress when I’m knocking around the house at home, doing chores, or running the kids to activities.
It’s comfy, I get to wear leggings without flashing my derriere, it’s smart enough to grab a coffee or run errands without looking scruffy, cool on cold days and can be layered with a Blackwood cardigan if it cools down.
Even my mad photo-bomber approves!
I’d like to make this again. I definitely need a bright blue one to replace the original, and I’d like a white one to wear with black leggings and loafers for the autumn. I’m thinking of pin-tucking the front of the white one. Either way this pattern is a keeper and I got to practice all the shirt-making techniques I need for making shirts for Dave.
The stash is slowly coming down. I have a a few pieces left for me, two pieces for shirts for Dave and a piece of Harris tweed that I’m planning to make into a bag once the kids are back at school!
I love the fabric you’ve used – it looks like a beautiful Delft china.pattern.
Very elegant for ‘home wear’ that you could also look perfectly lovely in when nipping out to the shops or for lunch in a nice restaurant. Now you’ve done all those alterations and made the pattern your own, I look forward to seeing more versions,
I do like making shirts but my husband has so many now and, as he’s mostly working from home, spends most of the time in t-shirts these days so I have got a bit lazy lately and fallen in love with a style from a certain Cornish shop which I snap up every time I see one in the sale.
I was very iffy about this fabric. It’s so pretty but I wasn’t sure if it was me. I’m definitely leaning more towards solids at the moment. But I totally love it and it’s does have the look of Delft china. It’s beautiful.
I’m really embracing the fitting and toiling process at the moment, and enjoying the results.
Shirts seem really hard but they’re not. I cheated somewhat as I didn’t French seam, but will do for shirts for Dave. He’s not in the office much these days but still has days where he does need to wear a shirt. I really should make them for him because he’s been waiting for years!