Last winter I whinged a LOT about being cold. So this autumn I have decided to be a little bit more prepared. I made a long sleeved shirt that will be lovely in autumn on its own (not completely alone of course, I will team it with pants or a skirt, I promise), while in winter I can layer it with a cardigan, sweater or jacket. I have written before about the versatility of the humble shirt – you can read about it here, if you like.
I was really happy with the fit so I decided to make three more shirts in different fabrics. This is a great way to build up on basics in your wardrobe. If you have a pattern you’re happy with, why not make multiples of it in different fabrics? The first time you make a particular pattern always takes the longest as you need to take time to fit it properly. However, once you’re happy with the fit and have noted any changes to your pattern, it’s much quicker to make subsequent garments from the pattern.
It’s faster again if you use multiple fabrics with a similar base colour. I used a red and white gingham, a white twill with navy dots and an off-white bird print fabric. I was able to use white overlocking thread for all three shirts and white thread on my normal sewing machine for most of the construction (I just changed to off-white thread for the top stitching on the bird print shirt because I’m particular like that). When you don’t need to change the thread for each shirt you can work on them all at the same time, production line style. For example, cut them all out, then iron on all the fusing pieces for all shirts, sew each collar etc.
As you may have noticed these shirts aren’t quite finished yet. That’s okay though, because despite it being the middle of autumn, it’s currently 32 degrees Celsius. I still need to do all the buttonholes and sew on all the buttons. That’s 11 buttonholes on each of three shirts. Even though I’m an experienced sewer, I still find buttonholes a bit intimidating sometimes, particularly when there’s 33 of them. I like sewing on buttons though. Mostly because I just adore buttons. The first shirt that I made, the rather loud floral one, doesn’t have buttons. I used silver snap fasteners because I like the contrast of the metal against the nanna-esque floral. If you want to try making a shirt but are scared of buttonholes, try using snap fasteners. They’re easy to attach and are now available in lot of different styles and colours.
In case you were wondering, this shirt is one of my own designs and the pattern will eventually be available for sale in my shop. It won’t be for a while though as the patterns take a long time to complete and I’ll be having a little break over Easter. Speaking of which, I hope you all have a lovely and safe Easter!
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Hooray for the new pattern! I really need a well fitted shirt pattern, as NOTHING in the stores fits me – I’ve been looking for years. Can’t wait!
I love all your shirts. The fabrics and print are absolutely my taste. I have never had a shirt that fit well. The sleeves are always too long and the hips are too tight. Hope that I will gain more sewing experience to sew a shirt for myself one day!
They’re beautiful! Love the fabric choices particularly the floral one.
Oh, I love your shirts, it is so difficult to find really pretty ones in nice fabric.
Oh my, you are very talented Angela. I love all those fabrics too! Would love to see you wearing one of these shirts.
Ronnie xo